


These Walls Between Us (Are Paper Thin)

by Trufreak89



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: All Human, College Student Carmilla, F/F, F/M, High school student Laura, Neighbours AU, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-28
Updated: 2015-10-28
Packaged: 2018-04-28 13:58:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 42,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5093351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trufreak89/pseuds/Trufreak89
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When college senior, Carmilla Karnstein, moves in to one of the apartment buildings owned by her mother, she really isn't expecting much; that's why   the building manager's daughter takes her by such surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

  
“Stupid...damn...machine...” Carmilla Karnstein punctuated each snarled word with a kick of her foot. The sounds of her cussing, along with her heavy boot connecting with the side of the dryer, echoed in the empty laundry room. When kicking the machine didn't get it working, she started yanking on the door handle instead.

“God. Damn. it! Why won't you open!” The college senior was starting to lose what little patience she had left as she wrestled with the dryer. She slammed her palm down on the top of it, just about ready to give up on ever getting her clothes back.

“Jeez, what did Betsy do to you?” Carmilla almost jumped out of her skin as an amused voice sounded behind her. She turned to glare at the unwelcome guest, but faltered as she found herself facing a smiling young woman. In the end, she wound up just staring blankly at the stranger.

The girl was gorgeous.

“Betsy... that's the dryer.” The girl elaborated, her smile lighting up her whole face. There was something so easy and carefree about it that Carmilla felt the corners of her own lips curling up.

The other girl looked to be barely an inch over five foot, and maybe a couple of years younger than Carmilla herself. Her sandy-brown hair was tied back, wrapped around what looked like a pencil; with little wispy strands escaping from her messy bun.

She had a bohemian look about her – dressed in denim dungarees and a tank top – and Carmilla pictured her as an art student, or something similar.

“You named the dryer?” Carmilla arched a single, perfectly sculpted, eye-brow at the younger girl, making her blush. She dropped her gaze, still wearing a bashful smile. Ignoring Carmilla's teasing, the girl stepped up to the dryer and dropped down beside it.

She snaked an arm around the back of the machine, pulling loose a metal panel that gave her access to the wiring inside; as well as showing off the pretty impressive definition of her biceps.

“Betsy is older than I am. She's temperamental, but treat her right...and...voilà.” The door to the dryer popped open, freeing Carmilla's trapped clothes.

“My hero.” Carmilla's smirk widened as she started pulling out her clothes – which included some lacy underwear – and the other girl looked away, sheepishly. “I don't suppose you're as handy when it comes to plumbing? My hot water seems to have a mind of its own.” Carmilla was only half joking.

Her morning shower had almost resulted in her developing hypothermia when the hot water had suddenly cut out. “You're in 4B, right?” The girl asked, and then quickly added, “Not that I'm some creepy stalker or something! I'm in 4A, just across the hall. I saw you moving in the other day...”

Carmilla had been in her new apartment for all of two days. It was hardly a palace, but the neighbourhood was up-and-coming, and it was a step up from living in the dorms back on campus.

“I'm Laura, by the way. Laura Hollis. My dad's the Building Manager.” The younger girl offered out her hand. She quickly drew it back when Carmilla just stared blankly at it, as though the custom of shaking hands was completely alien to her. She at least gave Laura her name though.  
“Carmilla.”

“Nice to meet you Carmilla! Welcome to the building!” Laura beamed at her. Carmilla wasn't sure how she was managing to keep smiling so widely, and for so long; her own cheeks ached just watching the other girl. “I could take a look at your hot water... if you wanted? The pressure in the boiler probably just needs regulating.”  
  
“Knock yourself out, Mario.” Carmilla shrugged, though she was biting back a grin as she picked up her laundry basket and followed Laura back upstairs. The laundry room was located down in the basement, so they had to climb up four flights of stairs to reach the floor that they shared.

The stairs finished on the fourth floor, with a separate set of steps leading up to the roof. Carmilla had tried to get up on the roof the first night she'd moved in, but the access door had been locked.  
  
“I haven't exactly settled in yet.” Carmilla seemed almost self-conscious as she unlocked her front door and stepped inside, her new neighbour following close behind her. Like Laura's own home, the kitchen and living room were open plan.

There were boxes and boxes piled up everywhere Laura looked. There was a single leather couch, along with two mismatched chairs sitting in front of a flat-screen TV. Rather than being fitted to the wall, the television was resting on one of the many cardboard boxes that filled the room.

Some of the boxes were open, with clothes spilling out of them. More clothes were strewn around the room, along with take-out boxes and books of various sizes. Carmilla wasn't much of a housekeeper.

“Your water heater should be in here.” Laura ducked down in front of the kitchen sink, pulling open the cabinet below it. Sure enough, the boiler was there. It was the same unit that was in every other apartment. Laura could take it apart in her sleep.

She had helped her dad strip down and reassemble similar units more times than she could count. Laura could identify every last piece of the water heater; from the cold water valve right down to the thermocouple.

“If you're getting hot water some of the time, then your bottom element has probably burnt out. When the top element gets too hot it cuts-off and the bottom one should come on.” Laura explained, while wrestling the cover plate off the boiler. “I'll have to turn the power off to it at the breaker, then test the elements...”

“Go for it, Cupcake.” Carmilla shrugged. She couldn't identify a heating element if her life depended on it. Laura promised to be right back and bounced out the front door, leaving it ajar behind her. She was back within the space of a few minutes, carrying a metal toolbox that looked like it weighed more than Laura herself.

There was also an old tool-belt slung low around her hips. Carmilla found it oddly alluring. She bit back a snort, suddenly reminded of the start of a terrible porno.

Laura's attention was back on the water heater as Carmilla hopped up on to the counter beside the sink. “So are you a contractor or something? You look a little young to be qualified to do this.” The older girl probed, hoping to learn more about her new neighbour.

“I'm not qualified at anything, just good with my hands.” Laura answered. Coming from anyone else, Carmilla might have considered the comment to be flirtatious; but there was just something so innocent about Laura.

Of course, that didn't stop the suggestive smirk that flitted across Carmilla's lips. “I'm sure you are.” She teased, making Laura blush as she realised what she'd just said.

“I uh... My dad's the building manager. I've been helping him just about since I could walk. I love taking stuff apart, figuring out how it works and putting it back together.” Laura shrugged as she looked up at the older girl. She almost seemed bashful, as though she were admitting some deep, dark secret.

“You'd get on like a house on fire with my friend LaF,” Was all Carmilla said back to her. She let the other girl get back to work, watching with childlike curiosity as Laura tested to see if the element was burned out. She was using something that looked like it belonged in a high school science class.

Two wires and some crocodile clamps attached a metal probe to a small bulb and a battery. With one of the clamps attached to the metal screw of the element, it formed a closed circuit, through which the electricity from the battery could conduct all the way around to the bulb.

The bulb didn't light up. Carmilla wasn't sure whether that was good or bad. Laura put the testing unit back in her tool box and began tinkering with the boiler, removing what Carmilla guessed was the old, burned out, element. “So what is it you do? Besides help out damsels in distress?”

“I'm a student.”  
“Really? What's your major?”  
“Oh, I'm –” Laura's answer was interrupted by her cell-phone going off. The first few bars of the song Daddy Cool started before she could pick up. “Sorry, just a sec, it's my dad.” Laura sheepishly explained.

Carmilla wandered over the fridge while Laura was talking on her phone. She busied herself with getting two cans of soda out, while trying to look like she wasn't eavesdropping; even through she could hear every word the other girl was saying.

“Sorry about that.” Laura tried to apologise again as she finished the call and hung up.  
“It's fine.” Carmilla waved the apology off, and held out one of the sodas for the younger girl to take. She’d worked up quite a thirst, tinkering around with the boiler.

Carmilla hopped back up on to the counter, while Laura knelt back down under the sink again. “So what's the diagnosis, Doc? Is my water heater going to live? Or am I going to have to take Old Yella out  
back?”  
“She'll live.” Laura let out a chuckle. “I just need to change this element and you'll be taking nice, hot, showers in no time. It won't take long.”

“Take all the time you need, Buttercup.” Carmilla didn't have any plans for the afternoon anyway. Even if she did have, she'd have happily canceled them in order to spend more time watching Laura work. The other girl's tongue was poking out of the side of her mouth as she worked on changing over the elements. It was pretty cute.

Sadly, it didn't take Laura all that long to finish up. She had the cover plate back on the working boiler before she'd even finished half her soda. “That should do you.” She beamed at the older girl, wiping her hands down on the sides of her dungarees.

She'd brushed a strand of hair back from her face beforehand, leaving a smudge of dirt on her cheek. Carmilla couldn't help herself as she wiped it away with her thumb. “Thanks.” Her voice was thick and husky.

Laura was dumbstruck. Her brain seemed to have flat out abandoned her as she stared at Carmilla's full lips. For the briefest second, she thought her new neighbour might be about to kiss her. Laura would have been lying if she said she wasn't disappointed when Carmilla pulled away.

Her cheeks were flushed as she ducked back down to put her tools away. “No problem.” Laura did her best not to sound too flustered as she packed up. “I'm right across the hall if you need anything else.”  
“I'm sure I'll think of something...” Carmilla muttered under her breath as she followed Laura to the door. Out loud, she said, “I'll do that. Thanks, Cutie Pie.”

Laura waved back at her as she unlocked her own front door. She winced as she tripped over her welcome mat, hoping against hope that Carmilla hadn't seen her. She placed her toolbox down in the hall, calling out to her dad. “Hey Pops, I'm back! I was just fixing the water heater in 4B. The new neighbour seems...nice.”

Laura caught herself before she could say something incriminating. If her dad knew she had the hots for the new neighbour he would never let it drop.  
“Oh, the Karnstein kid? I've been meaning to go over there and introduce myself.” John Hollis was standing at the kitchen sink, wearing a pair of bright pink marigolds as he did the washing-up.

At 6ft 2”, and with the build of a linebacker, the ex marine had no qualms about either wearing pink, or doing household chores. Ever since the death of his wife, he'd always tried to make an effort to give his home a feminine touch. For Laura's sake. She pecked him on the cheek as she hopped up on to the counter beside him.  
“Wait. Did you say Karnstein? As in the Karnsteins who own this building? And, like, half of the city?”

“The very same.” John gave his disbelieving daughter a nod of his head. “Though I think Mrs Karnstein went back to her maiden name…”  
“That's crazy! Carmilla living here, not her mom changing her name. Why would Carmilla want to live here? She should be living in a mansion or something! Her family are loaded!.”

“Hey, the Lustig Building used to be a mansion!” John said, pointing out a fact that Laura had heard time and time again.  
“Yeah, yeah, I know, Dad. Lustig used to be a grand old place... back in the golden age of silent movies and respectful children.” Laura rolled her eyes at him. She'd heard it all before. “I just mean, she must be able to afford to live any place. Why here?”

“Here's as good a place as any.” John shrugged. Pulling off his rubber gloves, and setting them aside, he offered his seventeen year old daughter the kind of smile that had caused the deeply ingrained lines at the corners of his eyes. “The plumbing's older than I am, and nothing much works, but the neighbours are good people.”

“Except for crazy old Mrs Winston...” Laura mumbled, though she did it quiet enough so that her father wouldn't hear. He'd taught her to respect her elders, even when they were crazy old ladies who kept trying to feed her cakes full of salt.

To her dad, she said, “Maybe we should invite her over for dinner sometime? Welcome her to the building properly?”  
“That's a great idea, Monkey.” John agreed.  
“Dad, do me favour, and don't call me that when Carmilla's here.”

It was bad enough that Danny and Kirsch knew he called her that. The last thing Laura wanted was for her dad to embarrass her in front of her super cool - sexy - older neighbour. “Call you what, Monkey?”

 

* * *

 

 

“We've got to stop meeting like this, Short-Stack. What will the neighbours think?” Carmilla teased as she ran in to Laura in front of the mail boxes in the lobby. Despite only meeting the other girl the afternoon before, Carmilla felt an easy rapport with her. That's why she was surprised when she didn't answer her.

“Earth to Laura?” The younger girl had her back to her, and it was only as Carmilla tapped her on the shoulder that she realised she was wearing earphones.  
“Jesus!” Laura jumped a foot in the air before turning around. “Carmilla!” She frowned, yanking her earphones out.

“Yours truly.” Carmilla wore a toothy smile, like a shark that had suddenly picked up the scent of blood in the water. “You shouldn't have your music so loud. Didn't your mom ever warn you about going deaf?”  
“My mom's dead.” Laura answered flatly.

She hadn't meant for it to come out so bluntly. Her mother had died when she was still very young. Laura had grown used to people asking questions about how and when it happened. She'd become desensitized to it all in a way. Her candour had caught Carmilla off-guard though. The other girl stood there, her  
mouth hanging wide open. “Shit...Cupcake, I'm so sorry.”

“It's okay. It had happened a long time ago.” Laura shrugged. She crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly realizing Carmilla had caught her in her pyjamas. “I should probably head up and get dressed.”  
“Don't let me keep you. I've got an extra large latte waiting with my name on it.”

Carmilla wasn't a morning person, by any stretch of the imagination. She couldn't function without her morning caffeine fix. Luckily, her new apartment was within walking distance of the coffee shop that one of her best friends worked at.

'The Daily Grind' was the kind of small, independent, coffee shop that made just enough money to keep the lights on. Despite it being a Saturday morning, there were only a handful of customers dotted around the place when Carmilla walked in.

She claimed her usual couch by the window, tossing the redhead behind the counter a casual wave to let them know she was there. Carmilla pulled out a book and placed her feet up on the low coffee table in front of her, making herself comfortable.

She didn't need to wait long before Perry made her way over to her, carrying her usual order; a large latte and a piping hot croissant. “I'm impressed. You're only an hour late.” Perry pointed out, knocking Carmilla's boots down off the table.

Back when they'd been room-mate’s in their first year of college, Perry had dragged Carmilla along with her to open the store every Saturday; enticing the grumpy night owl with free coffee and handmade pastries. The two friends couldn't be any more different.

While Perry was a neat-freak, who spent her spare time baking, Carmilla was a lot more relaxed when it came to housework. It had been a miracle they hadn't killed each other in their freshman year. The two young women shared a love of languages and favourite authors. That had been enough for them to build a solid friendship on.

When they'd moved in to an apartment off-campus the following year – along with LaFontaine, Perry's oldest friend – Carmilla had been able to get out of her early morning starts. LaF had gotten a job at the Grind, leaving Carmilla to enjoy long, lazy, Saturday mornings in bed; with Elle.

Thinking of her ex left a heavy lump in Carmilla's throat. She'd moved out to get away from those memories. To get a fresh start. Dwelling on thoughts of Elle would only leave her in a funk for the rest of the day. “Yeah, well, I was enjoying a nice hot shower for once.” Carmilla answered her friend with her usual charming snark.  
“Did you finally get it fixed?” LaFontaine asked as they flopped down on to the couch opposite the one Carmilla was sitting on, having overheard her and Perry's conversation.

They greeted their girlfriend with an affectionate peck to the cheek, which was about as hardcore as the couple's public displays of affection got. The two friends had grown up as close as siblings, though a different kind of love had blossomed between them in their late teens. They'd become so used to hiding their relationship that, even after they'd gone public with it last year, they'd stuck to old habits.

“Hmm, I did.” The beginning of a smile tugged at the corners of Carmilla's lips; though it had nothing to do with having an abundance of hot water.  
“Did you get in touch with the building manager?” Asked Perry, right before sipping at the fresh cup of tea that LaFontaine had just brought her over.

It was quiet enough for the two of them to be taking a break, though Carmilla knew from experience that Perry would still be at a constant vigil for any customers who required her attention.  
“No. I did run in to his daughter though.” Carmilla was flat out grinning as she thought of Laura, picturing her impressive biceps in the tank top she'd caught her in that morning. “She was very happy to help.”

“You do know that sounds like the start of a porno, right?” LaF pointed out, earning a sidelong glance from their girlfriend.  
“Don't worry, it was all very PG-13.” Carmilla rolled her eyes. “Hell, it was practically Disney.” Laura had seemed oblivious to Carmilla's attempts at flirting.

She wasn't sure if the other girl was gay, or even curious, but the odds were definitely against her. “Good.” Said Perry, in a very matter of fact tone. “You've only been there a few days. Try to at least give it a week before you get yourself in to any kind of trouble.”

“What Perr is trying to politely say, is that you're not getting your old room back if you get kicked out.” LaF joked, earning themselves another indignant look from Perry. Carmilla scoffed at that. She shook her head as she tore off a piece of her croissant and popped it in to her mouth.

“Fat chance of that when my family owns the building.” Along with half of the others in the street. Carmilla’s father had been a successful real estate mogul. He'd amassed a number of properties – along with a sizeable fortune – by the time he'd been killed in a car accident. Carmilla had only been sixteen at the time.

She'd understood the pained look on Laura's face when she'd spoken about her mother, though she hadn't brought up her own father's passing. It simply wasn't something she spoke about with strangers; no matter how cute they were.

Living in the family home, without her father, had been unbearable. Despite choosing a college within commuting distance of her mother's house, Carmilla had chosen to live on campus. She'd got out as quickly as she could. It had taken a lot for her to swallow her pride and ask her mother for help in finding a place to live after she'd decided to move out of the apartment she'd shared with Elle and the others.

The struggling student hadn't had a whole lot of options when it came to finding somewhere affordable to live. 'Affordable' in the city tended to mean a squalid studio apartment, on the wrong side of town, or a flat share with people of questionable employment.

“Speaking of family, is your mom still making you go to dinner tomorrow night?” Questioned LaF. They knew all too well how Carmilla felt about her mother. Their former room mate let out a sigh as she nodded.  
“Yeah. That's the deal. I get the apartment and I've got to have dinner with her and Will twice a month. Mattie's going to be there too, so it's not too bad I guess.” She shrugged, like the idea of sitting down to a family meal wasn't twisting up her insides.

Her father had been the glue that held their family together. After his death, Mattie had taken off to London to do a Master's Degree at Oxford, leaving Carmilla and Will to face their mother alone. Carmilla hadn't blamed her. She'd moved out the second she could, too. At seventeen, William was still young enough to be taken in by their mother's act. Her little brother was one of the very few reasons that Carmilla had anything to do with her mother.

She and Mattie only kept in contact with her for Will's sake. Mattie of course, being five years older, was a lot more diplomatic about it. Carmilla just couldn’t summon the energy to hide her disdain for the woman who had given birth to her.

“We should have dinner together tonight.” Perry suggested. The redhead was an amazing cook, and was the only reason Carmilla and LaF hadn't turned in to stereotypical students living on ramen and take out. “It could be a kind of house warming.”  
“Only if you're cooking, sister.”

“Like we'd actually let you cook.” LaF snorted in to their coffee cup. “I still can't even look at shrimp without wanting to barf!”  
“Jesus, I gave you food poisoning one time!”  
“I ended up in the hospital!”  
“Indoor voices! Please.” Perry snapped at the two of them in a harsh whisper, glancing over her shoulder to check they hadn't disturbed any of the other customers.

There were only thee other people in the coffee shop, and at least one of them was sleeping, but that didn't stop Perry from being the epitome of professionalism at all times. “I'll cook. I'll make my salmon en croute that you both like so much.”

“With your sweet potatoes and green beans? Oh, and yams!” LaF perked up, bouts of food poisoning all but forgotten about.  
“Of course, Sweetie. I'll make a pumpkin pie too.” Perry beamed at their life long friend and partner, like the stars shone through their eyes. It had been a long time since anyone had looked at Carmilla that way.

“Great. Now I'm really hungry.” Popping the last piece of her croissant in to her mouth, she got to her feet and declared her intentions to go get another one; leaving the sickeningly happy couple to get a minute to themselves.

Back at the Lustig, Laura was finishing up with the small list of jobs her dad had asked her to do. “There we go, Ms Winston. You're drain's all clear.” Laura pulled off her rubber gloves with a cheery smile. She'd spent the last hour pulling cat hair out of her elderly neighbour's kitchen sink, but it was her last chore of the morning.

Dodging the old woman's offer of some home-made cookies, Laura made it out of apartment 4C, and in to her own, in record time. Dropping her tool belt on to her bed, she quickly changed out of her work clothes and in to a pair of shorts and a softball t-shirt. Her dad was downstairs in 2B, fixing a leaking facet, so she didn't have to bother saying goodbye as she raced back out the door.

It was already after midday, and Laura was running late. She took the stairs two at a time, bounding down them at full speed. “Kirsch!” Was all the warning she gave as she leapt off the last few steps, wrapping her arms around Wilson Kirsch's neck as she jumped on to his back.

“Hey, Little Hottie!” Kirsch greeted her with a wide grin as he took hold of her hands, making sure the tiny girl was safely settled on his back before heading for the door. It was opening just as they approached it, and Carmilla and her friends almost ran right in to Kirsch and Laura.

“Whoa, sorry ladies!” Kirsch apologised, still wearing a dumb grin as he stepped to the side to let them through. LaFontaine looked uncomfortable at the greeting, but said nothing. Of course, seeing her friend upset had Carmilla instantly on the defensive; the fact that Laura was on the overgrown man child's back didn't help matters much either.

“Watch it, Big-foot!” She growled at him, her Kohl lined eyes narrowing on Laura's 'friend'. It was just Carmilla's luck; of course her incredibly cute neighbour was straight, and dating a Neanderthal to boot.  
“Hey, Carmilla! Sorry about nearly knocking you guys over, we're running a little late.” Laura let out a laugh, still out of breath from running down three flights of stairs.

“Yeah, and Danny will kick my ass for it!” Kirsch pointed out, though his usual good-nature made it impossible for him to sound like he was in a huff. “Bye, Laura's friends!” He tossed them a wave, before barrelling out of the door at a sprint.

Laura's giggling faded away as they disappeared down the stoop. Carmilla stared after them, glaring at Kirsch's back. LaF – always the one to point out the obvious – came out with, “Soooo... I take it that's the building manager's daughter?”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the hits and the great feedback. I have about half of this already written up, so I'm just going to try to post chapters once they're edited and then settle on a somewhat regular posting schedule after that.

“Ugh, get a room...” Carmilla snarled at a couple that were busy making out on the second floor landing. The teenagers were blocking the top of the stairs, making it impossible for her to slip past them without comment. It was the end of a very long week, and Carmilla wanted nothing more than to get in to her apartment, close the door behind her, and block out the rest of the world.

“Oh, hey Carmilla!” Her head snapped up as the young man greeted her by name. It was Laura's man-boy. Kirk? Kurt? Something like that. The girl he'd just been kissing though, was most definitely not Laura. The redhead had to be at least six foot tall, and she was nowhere near as friendly and bubbly as Carmilla's neighbour from across the hall

If anything, the redhead looked like she was trying her best not to scowl at Carmilla. “D-Bear, this is Carmilla. She just moved in across the hall from Laura. Carmilla, this is–” The exhausted older girl didn't wait around for the introductions. Ignoring Kirsch's protests, she pushed past him and the girl he'd referred to as 'D-Bear' and carried on her way.

She had no idea what a girl like Laura could possibly see in a lumbering Neanderthal like that. He hadn't even tried to hide the fact that he'd been kissing someone other than his girlfriend. Carmilla let out a frustrated groan as she reached the top of the fourth floor landing. “Jesus, does everyone in this building hang out on the stairs? Is that a thing?”

Despite her irritation at having her path blocked for a second time, Carmilla was much less hostile when it was her cute neighbour who was sitting at the top of the stairs. “You know, I just caught your boyfriend making out with Big Foot on the second floor. You should probably go do something about that.”

It was hardly the most diplomatic way to bring it up, but Carmilla figured it was better that Laura knew her boyfriend was messing around right under her nose. “Boyfriend?” Laura looked up from the book that was resting on her lap and gave Carmilla a confused look.

Carmilla let out an exasperate sigh as she leaned against the handrail. “Yeah. Big guy. Looks like a throwback to the stone-age. You rode him out of here the other day. Ringing any bells, Cupcake?”  
  
Laura's lips pursed as she made an, “Oh...” Carmilla half expected the tiny girl to fly down the stairs in a fit of rage, to go confront the big man-child. What she wasn't expecting, however, was for Laura to crack up laughing.

“Did I miss a punchline or something?” Carmilla frowned. Laura was showing no sign of stopping any time soon. It was hardly the normal reaction to finding out you were being cheated on.  
“Sorry...Sorry...” Laura eventually apologised, struggling to catch her breath as she wiped away stray tears that had fallen down her cheeks. Even while trying to apologise, the younger girl was still laughing.

“I'm sorry. It's just... Kirsch isn't my boyfriend. I've known him since I was like ten! You probably saw him kissing Danny. They're dating... Sort of.” Carmilla felt oddly conflicted by the revelation. On the one hand, she was miffed at being laughed at. On the other, she was pleased to hear Laura wasn't dating Captain Caveman after all.

Deciding not to dwell on her embarrassment, she quickly changed the subject. “What are you doing sitting out here on the stairs anyway?” It was Laura's turn to look a little sheepish.  
“I forgot my keys this morning. My Dad's helping out at another building. It's on the other side of the city, so I've got a long wait for him to get back… At least I've got this to keep me busy!” Laura beamed, holding up her history textbook; Carmilla had never seen someone look so excited about assigned reading.

Rolling her eyes, and just knowing she was going to regret what she was about to do, she made a show of shifting her messenger bag on her shoulder as she searched for her keys. “Well you can't sit there all night. You're a fire hazard, Pumpkin. Come on, you can wait in my place.”  
“Really? Thanks!” Laura's eyes lit up at the offer. She quickly shoved her textbook back in to her own bag and followed after Carmilla.

The inside of her apartment looked much the same as it had when Laura had first been there. Clothes and moving boxes still littered the floor. “Tea?” Carmilla offered, playing the dutiful host as she set her heavy messenger bag down on the kitchen counter. She didn't wait for Laura's answer before she flipped the switch on the kettle.

It was mid-September and the familiar fall chill had already started to settle over the city. Rooming with Perry for so long had gotten Carmilla in the habit of making a pot of tea whenever it was cold out. “Sure. Thanks.” Laura seemed unsure of what to do with herself as she stood just inside the door, wringing her hands together. She looked like just another piece of furniture that Carmilla hadn't quite found a place for.

“You can sit down you know.” Carmilla pointed out, after glancing over her shoulder and finding her guest still standing. “Is chai tea okay?” Laura nodded back at her, her attention fixed on the books lying on the coffee table. Most of them looked old and weathered, and definitely well read. They were by authors like Kant, Dummett, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche.

Laura was intimidated just looking at them. “A little light reading?” She teased as Carmilla joined her on the couch.  
“I'm a Philosophy major. Third year, that's as light as it gets.” Carmilla handed over one of the cups she was holding. Laura didn't have the first clue what chai tea was, but she didn't want to admit that to her neighbour. She had never known tea to smell spicy.  
  
Carmilla didn't miss the way the other girl cautiously raised the cup to her lips. “So, Short-stack, what's your major?” She remembered asking the same question the first time they'd met, but she hadn't gotten an answer.

“Oh, I... I don't have a major. I'm not in college. Yet.” Carmilla almost choked on her tea at the revelation.  
“Yet? As in, you're what… eighteen?”  
“Seventeen. I don't turn eighteen until the spring.”  
“A spring baby, huh?” Carmilla tried to hide her disbelief as she sipped at her tea. She'd thought Laura was at least a freshman in college. “What are you planning on majoring in then?”

“Journalism, probably... or maybe English Literature. I haven't decided yet.” Shrugged Laura. She picked up one of the books from the table and started to flip through it. She couldn't understand a word of it, and not just because the content was too advanced. It was written in German. “Wow, because reading philosophical texts in English is far too easy.”

“Nietzsche's work is better read in his mother tongue; besides, I’m fluent in Deutsch… I was actually born in Austria.” Carmilla took the book from her and placed it back down on the coffee table. “I also speak French and Latin.”

“Wow. Most days I struggle with plain old English.” Laura was in awe of the other girl, but Carmilla just shrugged it off.  
“What can I say? I'm good with my tongue.” She knew she was skating on thin ice, flirting with her seventeen year old neighbour, but Carmilla just couldn't help herself. The searing blush that appeared on Laura's cheeks was too damn cute.  
“I'll bet.” Said Laura, sheepishly ducking her head to sip at her tea.

An hour passed without any sign of Laura's dad coming back. Having the teenager over had put a kink in her plans for the night, but that wasn't exactly a bad thing. Laura was surprisingly good company. “Hey, have you eaten yet? I was going to order in.” Carmilla made a show of stretching out as she reached for her phone.

Laura tried, and failed, to keep herself from staring at Carmilla's exposed midriff as her shirt rode up. “Uh, sure. I could eat...” They ended up ordering from an Italian place a few blocks over. Carmilla apparently ordered their often enough to be familiar with the woman on the other end of the phone. At least, Laura thought they seemed friendly. She couldn't understand a word Carmilla was saying as she spoke in rapid Italian.

Not that it mattered. Carmilla's husky voice sounded gorgeous when she was talking in English. It sounded down right adulterous when she was speaking in another language. She finally ended the conversation with, 'Ciao bella' and hung up.

“That was impressive. Can you order Thai?”  
“I could, but you'd have to eat whatever showed up at your own peril.” Carmilla answered in her usual teasing tone, making Laura crack up laughing.

The younger girl had a cute kind of laugh. It lit up her whole face, and made little dimples appear on her cheeks. Carmilla quickly looked away, trying not to dwell on just how cute her seventeen year old neighbour actually was. She could practically hear LaFontaine shouting jail bait at her in her head.

Carmilla was actually relieved when Laura's phone went off. It gave her an excuse to get up off the couch and head over to the fridge. She took out a beer for herself, and a soda for Laura. She popped the top off her beer using the side of the counter. The cheap wood split under the impact, leaving a pockmark on the counter top. Carmilla instantly dismissed it in favour of turning her attention back on her house guest.

“That was my Dad.” She explained once she'd hung up. “He's back. Um... Is it still okay if I stay for dinner?” The teenager sounded self-conscious as she tucked her hair back behind her ear, like she expected Carmilla to kick her out the first chance she got. She sill couldn’t quite believe Carmilla had invited her in in the first place.

“Sure, Cupcake. You can't expect me to eat the mountain of food I just ordered on my own, now can you?” Carmilla flashed her a smirk. Laura was instantly relieved, relaxing back against the couch again. It had been a long time since she’d had any real friends outside of Kirsch and Danny.

Carmilla joined her, tucking her feet underneath her legs as she made herself comfortable. “So, you and that Kirsch guy, you've never...?”  
“Never? Oh... Ew! Eww!” Laura twisted her face as she realised what the other girl was asking. “No! Never! Kirsch and I aren't like that… Besides, he's hardly my type.”

“So… What is your type then?” Asked Carmilla. She was just trying to make conversation, getting to know her new neighbour, but Laura suddenly looked like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“Actually, my 'type' is the complete opposite of Kirsch...” She admitted with a sheepish smile. Laura was quite comfortable in her own skin – or as comfortable as any seventeen year old girl could be – but she still found it hard to answer questions like the one Carmilla had asked. Laura had come out to exactly four people in the last year; including herself.  
“What? Short, intelligent and well dressed?” Carmilla cracked, oblivious to Laura's discomfort.

The teenager still found it hard to approach the subject of her sexuality with people she didn't know very well. Especially when those people were extremely attractive women. Laura had already imagined Carmilla's disgust at her, several times over in her head, by the time she finally answered her question. “Actually, it's more like...female.”

“Female?” Carmilla arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow at the younger girl, and Laura felt the pit of her stomach dropping. That was it. That was the moment her new neighbour was going to see her as some kind of freak and kick her out. Laura was already rising to her feet when Carmilla let out a howl of laughter. “Wow, Cutie, that's real specific. How do you ever find a date with your standards set so high?” She was teasing Laura again.

Once the shock of Carmilla laughing at her had worn off, Laura realised that. She slowly sat back down on the couch, still looking vaguely wary. Carmilla's amusement gave way to sympathy as she fixed Laura a look that made her heart melt.

“You haven't come out to many people, have you, Cupcake?” The younger girl's unease over Carmilla's probing questions suddenly made a lot more sense to her. After all, Carmilla had been in her position; albeit a long time ago.

“No. Not many.” Answered Laura. She was finding it hard to focus since Carmilla had placed a hand on her knee. It was meant to be reassuring but, more than anything, it was just distracting. Laura had expected her new nieghbour to shy away from her, not to move in closer.

“It gets easier.” Carmilla spoke with absolute certainty. “People talk about coming out like it's something you do once, but it's not. You do it every time you meet somebody new. Every time you go somewhere new... It sucks, and you shouldn't have to do it; but it does get easier... Trust me.”

Laura's heart was pounding so loudly in her ears that she almost missed that part. “You're... I mean, do you...Are you–” She gawked at the other girl, unsure of just how to phrase her question. Thankfully, Carmilla saw fit to put her out of her misery.

“Female is my type too, Cupcake.” She said, breaking the rather serious mood that had settled over them. “Though I'm usually a little pickier than just female–”  
“Okay, okay! I get it!” Laura laughed, swatting at the other girl with one of the couch cushions to get her to stop mocking her. She was grateful when the intercom went off, announcing the arrival of dinner.

Laura's reprieve was only temporary though. Carmilla went straight back to questioning her as soon as they were sat down with their food. “Are you seeing anybody?” Carmilla justified her interest in her neighbour’s love life as mere curiosity.

The warning voice inside of her head - which now sounded a lot like Perry - had grown louder as soon as she'd figured out that Laura was gay; Carmilla, however, was ignoring it in favour of settling her curiosity.

“Not since me and Danny...” Laura started to answer. She abruptly stopped as Carmilla's eyes almost popped out of her head. It was easy to forget that not everyone in the building new about her, Danny and Kirsch; even if sometimes it felt like it.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up, Sundance. I thought Danny was Kirsch's girlfriend?”  
“She is...she was just mine first, that's all.” Laura shrugged, like it wasn't that big of a deal that her girlfriend had gone off with her childhood best friend. There was a bitter note to her voice though, which she couldn't quite hide; even if she was trying to force a smile.

“It's a long story... and it's not even that interesting.” Laura added when she looked over at the other girl, and found her staring expectantly, waiting for the rest. She made a show of taking a big bite out of a slice of pizza, trying to keep her mouth otherwise occupied.

Carmilla wasn't about to let her off the hook though. “It's still early, Creampuff. I've got bags of time...besides, I'll be the judge of whether it's interesting or not.” Laura groaned with her mouthful of food. The last thing she wanted to do was tell her very gorgeous - and very gay - neighbour about her tragic, non-existent love life.

“Fine.” She huffed out. “So, Kirsch and Danny have lived in the building since they were kids. Me and my Dad moved in, like, eight years ago? Anyway, we all hung out together here, then we ended up at the same high school. We were the best of friends, like the three musketeers, you know? Then puberty hit, and boy was that a time bomb...”

Carmilla tried not to laugh or smile at the younger girl when she went off on a tangent. She wore a solemn expression, nodding along in agreement when it was called for, but mostly sitting silent as she listened to Laura's tale.

“So I get really worked up about telling Danny I think I might be gay… and sort of in to her. I was a literal mess. I couldn't stop sobbing long enough to get the words out, and then, of course, I started having a panic attack! She had to sit me down with a paper bag for twenty minutes before I could finally tell her why I'd been avoiding her.”

“What did she say?” Carmilla was sat curled up on the couch, her feet tucked underneath her and her head resting casually against her palm. Even when she was rambling, Laura lit up when she was speaking. Her hair kept falling in her eyes and the teenager ineffectively swatted it out of the way, or tucked it behind her ear, only to have it fall again. Carmilla was now completely ignoring the warning bells going off inside her head.

“I never got the chance to say anything. I started to, but then she just leaned right over and kissed me!” Laura was smiling, and biting down on her lip at the same time, as she thought back to that kiss.

Carmilla had to physically restrain herself from going in for a kiss of her own. She knew next to nothing about her neighbour, but the younger girl had been playing on Carmilla's mind all week. The sight of her biting at her lip was almost too much.

Her usual strategy for getting over a girl was to get under them, but Carmilla had a feeling that Laura wasn't a one-night stand kind of girl. Not to mention the fact that she lived right across the hall from her. The last thing she needed was to go making a mess in her own backyard; especially with some kid. Carmilla would just have to ignore the itch that was Laura Hollis, and hope it would go away on its own.

Laura was too busy with the next part of her story to notice the inner turmoil going on inside of Carmilla's head. “Her mom walked in on us when we were just about to...you know. I'd told my Dad about me and Danny, because he's really cool like that, but Danny's mom flipped!

She made a total big deal about it and wouldn't let me see Danny for a month! We tried to keep things going, but it just didn't work out. It was like her mom walking in on us made us miss our moment. It never seemed right after that, you know?”

“Moms are bitches.” Carmilla sighed without thinking. Her face twisted up as she realised what she'd said. “Shit... Sorry, Cutie. I wasn't thinking–”  
“It's okay.” Laura reassured her. Despite everything she'd been through, including losing her mother at such an early age, Laura seemed to be able to bounce right back and keep on smiling through it all. Carmilla envied that.

She sipped at her beer, wishing it was something stronger, and asked, “How did Captain Caveman and Big Foot get together then?” Laura gave her a chiding look for the derogative nicknames, though she'd never once rolled her eyes when Carmilla had called her Cupcake, or Cutie, or some other variation of edible goodies.

“I guess they just realised they clicked. After Danny and I broke up, we kind of drifted apart. She spent a lot more time with Kirsch, and not me. I don't really know everything. They kept things pretty quiet when they first started fooling around. I guess they told me when it started getting serious.” Laura was still smiling, but it was strained at the edges, and didn't quite reach her eyes.

“Fuck 'em, Creampuff. You can do better than the jolly green giant.” Carmilla gave the younger girl a conspiratorial smirk, making Laura laugh.  
“Thanks... And thanks for the food, and letting me bug you for the last...four hours.” Laura seemed shocked by the time when she checked her watch. “I should probably head home. I've got about twenty minutes before Dad sends out a search party for me.”

“No problem, Cutie. It was a pleasure.” Carmilla rose from the couch with the slinking grace of an uncurling house cat. She followed Laura to the door, lounging against the frame as she saw her out. “We should do this again. Next time you won't even have to lock yourself out first.”

Laura laughed again, a genuine smile returning to her face as she aimed it at her neighbour. “Thanks, Carm. I just might take you up on that. Good night.”  
“'Night.” Carmilla called back, watching as Laura disappeared in to her own apartment.

The door had barely closed behind her before Carmilla was pulling out her cellphone and throwing her head back against the door, letting out a deep, dissatisfied groan. “...Hey. It's me. What are you doing tonight?"


	3. Chapter 3

Laura Hollis was sitting at the breakfast bar in her kitchen when she heard the front door of the apartment across the hall opening. She shot out of her chair so quick that she almost ran in to her dad in the hallway. “Whoa there, Laura-Bear, where's the fire?” John gave his one and only daughter an amused look as he watched her bolt for the door.

She paused long enough with the lock to reply with, “Mail.”   
“On a Sunday?” Her father wore a puzzled frown, but Laura had her back to him and failed to see it. Going for the mail had been the first excuse she'd thought of for going to the door. Suddenly realizing it was Sunday morning, and there was no mail service today, she had to pause in her doorway, quickly trying to come up with some excuse as to why she'd be going down stairs.

The real reason for her mad dash to the door was her neighbour. Carmilla. Laura had been going over the events of the previous night over and over in her head, and she was oddly sure that Carmilla might have been, maybe, possibly, flirting with her.

It was pathetic, but she was hoping to accidentally 'run in' to her neighbour on her way downstairs. The second she'd heard the door open she'd bolted for it, but now that she was standing there, she suddenly had no clue what she was meant to say or do.

The decision was taken away from her when she glanced up the hall and saw that, sure enough, Carmilla was standing at her door. The philosophy major was a little preoccupied with the blonde girl she had pushed up against the door frame.

The two were kissing like there would be no tomorrow, with Carmilla's hands groping blindly under the other girl's skirt. Laura quickly averted her eyes as the blonde looked her way. Deciding she couldn't just retreat back in to her apartment, and look like the stalker she was, she took off for the stairs, bounding down them two at a time until she reached the second floor.

“Oh, crap.” Muttered Laura, as she spotted Danny and Kirsch in a lip lock of their own. The couple jumped apart the second they spotted her. They did that a lot. Whenever Laura was around them they seemed to go out of their way to act like they weren't together, even though Laura already knew. She and Danny had been broken up for almost a year, and yet everyone still treated Laura like she was about to fall apart over it; again.

“Hey guys, don't let me interrupt.” Laura tried to sound nonchalant as she tossed them a small wave, but her disappointment at seeing Carmilla with the blonde had seeped in to her usual good cheer, leaving her words sounding hollow and bitter. Kirsch actually took a step further back from Danny, smiling sheepishly.

“Uh, hey Little-Hottie. We weren't doing nothing.” Kirsch started, but he was saved the embarrassment of having to continue as a stranger walked down the flight of stairs Laura had just come from, brushing past the younger girl on the way out. She gave Laura an intimidating look, like she was sizing her up, then just carried on walking by.

Laura glared at the woman's back until she disappeared from sight. “Is that a new neighbour?” Asked Danny, trying to fill the awkward silence that had descended over them.  
“Nu-uh, bro. That's not the new hottie on the fourth floor. Carmilla is–” Kirsch trailed off, suddenly remembering he was talking to his girlfriend, and not his bro.

“Uh, she's nowhere near as hot as you are, babe.” His attempts to dig himself out of that particular hole had resulted in him burying himself even more. Danny rolled her eyes, but gave him a free pass for Laura's sake.  
“Kirsch, why don't you head back upstairs to your place and I'll come by in a little while. Laura and I need some girl time.”

“Girl time. Sure. Cool. No problem, bro-, uh, Danny.” Laura couldn't help but feel sorry for Kirsch as he nervously stumbled over his goodbye. As much as they all insisted everything was fine between them, Kirsch often had the same unsettled look on his face that Laura wore whenever she saw them kissing.

Like he was worried 'girl time' was secret code for making out, and no one had filled him in on it. “C’mon you. I've got some grape soda in the fridge.” Danny indicated her partially open front door, and led a reluctant Laura inside apartment 2B.

Sensing her hesitation, Danny added, “Mom's at church. You don't have to worry about her.” She gave Laura an almost apologetic smile. There had been a time when they had practically lived in each other's homes growing up, but their relationship had changed all that.

Laura hadn't been able to look Mrs Lawrence in the eye since she'd dragged her out of Danny's bed and slammed their front door in her face  
“Shouldn't you have gone with her? You know, if you don't want to end up burning in hell?” Laura teased, though there was an edge to her voice.

“Apparently I'm already going there, so what's the point? I might as well enjoy my Sunday's. Right?” The two girls laughed at that, some of the tension between them slowly melting away. Despite everything that had gone on between them, and with Kirsch, they had a long history and an almost unbreakable friendship.

“So… what's going on?” Danny waited until Laura was settled at her kitchen table, with a soda in her hand, before questioning her. She'd known Laura long enough to guess when something was wrong. “The only time I've ever seen you this cranky is when your blood sugar's dropping. Who was that girl you were glaring at out on the landing?”

“I dunno.” Laura shrugged, sipping at the cold soda Danny had given her. She managed a strangled smile as she realised Danny had probably only given her the soda in case her mood actually was something to do with her blood sugar levels.

Sometimes the other girl could be even more overprotective of Laura than her own father; and that took some doing. “I think she might be my new neighbour's girlfriend. Carmilla... the ridiculously hot, gay, and very flirty, neighbour who moved in across the hall last week.”

“Oh.” Danny rubbed at the back of her neck, clearly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was heading. It was a painstaking reminder that Laura wasn't just talking to her best friend. Danny was also her ex, and that made some subjects between them pretty much taboo. “Do you like her?”

“I hardly know her.” Laura shrugged, outright avoiding the question; which was answer enough. Danny ran a hand through her hair, pushing her long, fiery, mane back from her face. She looked like something had left a bad taste in her mouth.

“I'm probably not the best person to talk to about this stuff.” She reached over and took hold of Laura's hand, lacing their fingers together.   
“Danny.” Laura pulled her hand back with a sigh. “Please don't...”

“Sorry. I guess I'm not as good as you are when it comes to just switching off my feelings.” It was an argument they'd had a hundred times before. Laura wasn't in the mood. It always ended the same anyway.  
“That's not fair.”

“Fair? You know what's not fair, Laura? I told my Mom to go to hell! For you! I was ready to move out so we could be together, and you... you just...” Danny shook her head, wiping at her eyes.

Laura had told her to forget about it. She'd been ready to move heaven and earth to stay with her, but Laura had said no. She hadn't fought for them. Hadn't even tried. Laura, the love of Danny's young life, had just told her to forget about it.

“You're with Kirsch now.” Laura stated the obvious. Her eyes were downcast, focusing on the grain of the kitchen table, as she waited for the words she knew Danny was going to follow with. She'd heard them enough times by now.

“I like Kirsch… a lot. But I love you. God, Laura, I always have!”   
“We missed our shot, Danny.” Laura sighed, repeating the same tired, old, excuse she'd been giving the other girl for months.   
“What the hell does that even mean?”

“It means you're with Kirsch now! Thanks for the soda.” Laura stood, intending to see herself out. There were only so many times she and Danny could keep doing this dance before someone got hurt; and it would probably end up being Kirsch. Laura refused to hurt her oldest friend like that.

“Wait...” Danny stood too, blocking her path to the door. “I'm sorry. I know I keep doing this, and every time I do it just pushes you away, but it's eating away at me, Laura! I just...I need to know. Why wasn't I good enough for you?” Laura's anger dissipated the second she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the other girl's waist; the only place on Danny she could reach without stretching.

“You know it wasn't like that.” She sighed, wishing she could put what she was feeling in to words. She loved Danny Lawrence. She'd been in love with her for as long as she could remember, and when they finally got together it had been everything Laura had ever wanted; except it just hadn't been enough.

Mrs Lawrence walking in on them – and going berserk about finding the two girls naked together in bed – had been like a sign. Like a chance for Laura to step back and think about what it was she was actually doing.

“I should go.” Laura hastily rubbed at her eyes with the back of her pajama sleeve. She had only intended to start the morning with a not-so-accidental run in with her neighbour, not end up having a heart to heart with Danny at her kitchen table. “And you should get back to Kirsch.”

Danny nodded in agreement. She'd give it a minute until it no longer looked like she'd been crying. Kirsch wasn't an idiot. Despite generally coming off as a few sandwiches short of a picnic basket, he was smart enough to know that his girlfriend still had feelings for her ex.

Whatever it was they had together had started off as some strange kind of comfort, like Kirsch was the closest Danny could get to Laura without actually being with her.

It was supposed to be a no strings, no feelings attached kind of thing, but somewhere along the line, strings had started appearing and the feelings hadn't been far behind.

Laura saw herself out. She was just pulling the door of apartment 2B shut when she spotted a flame haired woman walking briskly up the first lot of stairs. She flashed Laura a sincere smile as she took in the sight of the red eyed teenager, standing there in her pyjamas. The teenager probably looked a sight.

Laura returned the gesture, before ducking her head and going for the staircase leading up to the next floor. The woman seemed to be heading in the same direction. It was only as the two of them ascended to the fourth floor that Laura stopped and actually spoke to her. The woman seemed familiar. “I'm sorry, are you here to see someone?”

Laura felt guilty about questioning the woman, but her father had always taught her to be vigilante about strangers in the building. The man had signed her up for krav magra lessons and equipped her purse with a self defence kit that included bear spray, he wasn't likely to leave out the part about stranger danger.

“I don't mean to pry, it's just I haven't seen you around here before.”   
“No problem at all, dear. You can't be too careful these days. Lord knows this neighbourhood isn't the safest. I'm Lola, Lola Perry.” The woman moved the pie plate she was holding in to one hand and held the other out for Laura to take.

She didn't seem like a burglar, or a homicidal maniac, so Laura introduced herself back. Perry's face whole face lit up as she realised who Laura was.   
“Oh, so you're the little miracle worker who got Carmilla's hot water working. I can't tell you how grumpy she gets when she hasn't been able to get a nice hot soak. Would you like some pie?”

The woman's abrupt change of subject caught Laura off guard, leaving her staring open mouthed as Perry shoved the pie plate in front of her. It smelled delicious, and looked home made. Laura's stomach rumbled just looking at it. “Perr, stop bothering my neighbours.”

Carmilla's gruff voice interrupted before Laura could actually answer. Her attention snapped towards the other end of the hall, where Carmilla was lounging against her open door wearing nothing but a red silk bathrobe.

Laura hadn't gotten a very good look at her before, when she'd been stuck to the face of that blonde, but she had to admit, Carmilla looked great first thing in the morning. Even with a serious case of bed hair and panda eyes, the older girl looked good enough to eat.

“Don't mind her, Creampuff. Perry's harmless.” Carmilla shot the teenager a lazy smile. It had her toes curling in her bunny slippers. Perry didn't seem too happy at being accused of accosting Carmilla's neighbour, but she kept her comments to herself as she walked up the hall towards her friend's apartment. Laura missed the pie already.

She made up an excuse when Carmilla asked if she wanted to come in for a slice, it was probably something as clever as telling her dad she was going for the mail, then disappeared back inside of her own apartment.

Carmilla gave her closed door a bemused smile before heading inside to see to Perry. As expected, she'd already put the pie plate down on the kitchen counter and was busy picking up laundry from the floor. Carmilla rolled her eyes, expecting a lecture any second.

“Really Carmilla, would it kill you to pick up after yourself? And it doesn't look like you've unpacked a single thing yet!” Perry went on and on, but Carmilla just tuned her out as she flopped down on to her couch. She'd had years of experience in ignoring Perry's rants about cleanliness being next to godliness. Her head was pounding enough as it was.

Empty beer bottles littered the coffee table in front of her. She and Elsie had really gone for it last night. “Are you even listening to me?”  
“No.” Carmilla answered honestly. Perry's only response was to start banging the dirty dishes in the sink around.

“Perr, please... I've got the worst hangover, and I didn't invite you over to do the housework.”   
“You didn't invite me over at all.” Perry pointed out, plating up a piece of the pie she'd brought over and pouring a cup of coffee out of the percolator at the same time, like a pro. She took both over to Carmilla.

“LaFontaine has the early shift, so I thought I'd come over here and make myself useful.” She gave the empty bottles on the table a disapproving look as she spoke.

“And I love you for that, but please, let's just keep the noise to a minimum right now.” Carmilla lay her head down on her friend's lap, spreading out across the couch as she tucked in to the pie she'd brought.

Perry's baking was out of this world, and the perfect cure for a hangover and a night of drunken regrets. Carmilla basked in the silence for the few short minutes it took her to finish off the pie and drink half of her coffee.

That was all the time Perry gave her before starting again. “And who, might I ask, joined you for last night's shenanigans? Please don't tell me it was the girl across the hall. I don't want to have to come visit you in prison.”

Carmilla snorted at that, actually inhaling some of the hot coffee in to her lungs. “Jesus, Perry. She's seventeen. I'd hardly be snatching the cradle!” She shook her head in amusement at the constipated look her old room mate was giving her.

“You can unbunch your panties, it wasn't Laura. I called Elsie.” She closed her eyes over in anticipation of what adding that last part would result in.   
“You what?” Perry screeched, almost breaking the sound barrier. “Are you insane? You got rid of Elsie because she was too clingy, and now you're inviting her over to...for...sleepovers!”

Carmilla tried, and failed, to hold in another snort of laughter. Perry was the only person she knew in their twenties that was unable to say the word fuck. She gave a careless shrug, infuriating her friend even more. Deep down she knew Perry was right.

She'd cut Elsie loose a few weeks ago, after the other girl had started getting too serious about her. Carmilla didn't do serious. She didn't do relationships and dating and all that other stuff that wide eyed girls tended to want from her. “It's fine. She knew it was a one off thing. I was bored, she was available.”

“Carmilla, you are talking about a human being! With feelings and emotions! Not a...a...” She trailed off, too flustered to come up with an appropriate comparison. Perry took a deep, calming, breath and tried again; keeping that pleasant level tone that always reminded Carmilla of a school teacher talking down to an unruly pupil. “I know you do not want to get seriously involved with anybody, not after everything with Elle, but–”

“Elsie has feelings. Don't fuck with them. Got it.” Carmilla snapped, shutting her down before Perry could really get in to anything she wasn't ready to talk about.

It had been over six months since Elle. The wounds were still raw, and Carmilla didn't care to talk about them with anybody. Perry, sensing Carmilla's thinly veiled anger, quickly changed the topic. “Well, these dishes aren't going to do themselves. I'll just make a start– Oh!”

A gush of water exploded from the faucet as Perry turned it on, spraying her and half of the kitchen. Carmilla jumped to her feet and screamed as the ice cold water reached her.

“Shut it off! Shut it off!”


	4. Chapter 4

“I got it!” John Hollis called out as he headed to answer the knocking at the front door. He was on his way out anyway, with his toolbox tucked under his arm. The knocking grew more insistent, until whoever was on the other side of the door was practically pounding their fist against it. “Alright! Alright, I'm coming!”

John yanked the door open with a frown, ready to give whoever was standing there a piece of his mind. He faltered when he found himself face to face with the new tenant from across the hall. Carmilla had been expecting Laura to answer the door, but right there and then she would take any help she could get.

“My tap exploded and my apartment is five minutes from becoming the next Atlantis!” The young woman was flushed. Her hair wet and sticking to the side of her face. Her bare feet had left sopping wet footprints on the linoleum out in the hall. A frantic cry from inside of the apartment underpinned her urgency.

Perry was standing holding what looked suspiciously like one of Carmilla's favourite shirts against the broken faucet, trying to stop the gushing water. John rushed over to the sink, dropping down in to a puddle on the floor to reach in to the cupboard underneath and shut off the water supply.

Perry let out a sigh of relief as the rushing water subsided to a trickle, before finally stopping. Getting back to his feet, John gave the two women an amused smile. “Welcome to the building.” With the panic over, Carmilla could take the time to actually look at Laura's father.

They shared the same strong jaw and kind eyes. His sandy brown hair was darker though, and speckled with grey. John also had to be at least six foot. There was no way Laura got her tiny stature from him. “I'm John Hollis, the building manager. I'm guessing you knew that already.” He chuckled, making little laughter lines appear at the corners of his eyes.

“You must be Carmilla. You look just like your Mom.”   
“Yeah. I get that a lot. Thanks for shutting the water off, Mr Hollis.” Carmilla deftly changed the subject, as she often did when someone brought up her mother.

“No problem. And you can call me John, everybody does.” The single father scanned what he could see of the apartment, no doubt taking in the numerous empty beer bottles and the dirty dishes piled high in the sink. “How are you settling in?”

“Just fine.” Out of the corner of her eye, Carmilla spotted a bra that definitely didn't belong to her. It was hanging over the back of the couch, and she moved to hide it. She wouldn't be surprised if Laura's father took one look at the apartment and refused to let her step foot in it ever again.

“Good. Great... I, uh, I can take a look at that faucet for you later on this afternoon if you'd like? I'm booked solid all morning, I'm afraid.” Said John, offering her an apologetic smile. “I could send Laura over if you're wanting it done right away?”

“Thanks, I'm not in any real hurry though, she can come over whenever she's free.” Carmilla was definitely going to have to clean up first. Perry tried to protest, arguing that the dirty plates in the sink were becoming a biological hazard.

Carmilla silenced her with a well executed glare as she herded John back towards the door.   
“Honestly, no hurry!” She slammed the door behind him and let out an exhausted groan. “You have to help me clean this place up...”

An hour later, Laura was knocking on her neighbour's door. Perry was the one to answer it. “Laura! Lovely to see you again!” She ushered the younger girl inside like they were old friends who hadn't seen each other in months.

Where Carmilla was sullen and sarcastic, Perry was bright and bubbly. They seemed like a rather unlikely duo. The inside of the apartment was a lot tidier than Laura had seen it on her previous two visits. The moving boxes had vanished from sight – Carmilla had piled them in to her room – giving the place a more homely, lived in, feel to it.

Her dad had already filled Laura in on what the problem was, and she'd come prepared with the right kind of tools for any plumbing emergency. Her beat up, old, leather tool belt was hung low on her hips, holding everything she would need to fix the broken tap.

By the time Carmilla came out of her bedroom – having changed in to her trademark leather pants and a form fitting, black button down shirt – Laura was already lying on her back, tinkering around under the sink. “Sweet mother of mercy...” Carmilla muttered under her breath as her eyes landed on the teenager.

The tank top Laura was wearing was riding up, showing off an impressively toned stomach. Coupled with the tool belt, a pair of combat pants and some workman's boots, Laura looked like she was playing dress up in her father's clothes. The look worked for her though. Carmilla was practically foaming at the mouth as she watched Laura work. The other girl's biceps were particularly captivating.

“That should do it. Oh… hey Carmilla.” Laura noticed the other girl had joined them as she got back to her feet. She wiped her hands on a rag that was sticking out of her pants pocket. Her greeting was frostier than Carmilla had been expecting.

“Hey, Cupcake. Thanks for dropping by.”   
“No problem.” Laura barely looked at her as she tried the faucet. The water started running in to the sink and draining away without a hitch. Her shoulders were hunched, like she was mad at something.

Carmilla tried to fathom what could possibly have happened between Laura leaving last night and her coming back this morning. She went on a charm offensive as she hopped up on to the counter, right next to where Laura was busy packing away her tools.

“I'm a little short on cash right now, but I could pay you in pie? Perry here is an excellent cook.” Carmilla flashed the younger girl a grin to try and break the ice.   
“That's okay, you don't need to pay me. It was nice to meet you, Perry.” Laura ducked her head, brushing past the other two girls to see herself out.

Perry gave Carmilla a long hard look, questioning what she'd done to upset the teenager. Carmilla answered with a shrug. She didn't have the first clue. Sauntering across the hall, Carmilla wrapped her knuckles against Laura's front door. “Carmilla. Was there something else you needed?” The teenager was actually frowning as she answered the door.

She'd ditched the tool belt, but was still wearing her work clothes. “A smile wouldn't go amiss, Cupcake.” Carmilla really wasn't helping herself any, but sarcasm was second nature to her. “Seriously. What's up? What's with the cold shoulder?”

“Look, Carmilla, I'm sure you're a really nice person and all, but I saw that girl leaving your place this morning.” Laura had decided against saying anything, but Carmilla hadn't given her a choice. She was going to say her bit, whether her new neighbour wanted to hear it or not.

“And...?” It was Carmilla's turn to frown. Why would Laura care who she spent the night with? Sure, they'd flirted a little bit, but it wasn't like anything had happened; Laura hadn't seemed like the bunny boiler type.   
“And I could barely look your girlfriend in the eye just now!” Laura huffed, her indignation rocketing to new highs.

“Whoa, back up, Creampuff!” Carmilla chuckled, which only served to deepen the frown Laura was wearing. She crossed her arms over her chest, scrunching up her face in a way that Carmilla really shouldn't have found cute.

“You might find adultery funny, but I don't!”   
“Perry's not my girlfriend.” Carmilla finally clued the other girl in, worried that she might go ahead and burst a blood vessel or something. She watched with barely concealed amusement as the younger girl deflated right in front of her.

“Oh...Crap. Carm, I am so sorry! I thought... I... I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry!” Laura's nervous rambling was pretty adorable, but Carmilla soon put her out of her misery with a soft laugh.  
“Relax, Creampuff. No harm, no foul. I'm sure Perry will be ecstatic that you were defending her honour.”

“Please don't tell her! Or anyone... Let's just never talk about this again, okay?” The teenager squirmed, wishing a hole would just open up beneath her.  
“Agreed. On one condition.”

“What's that?” Asked Laura, sounding apprehensive.  
“Come to lunch with me and Perr. She's convinced I've been an ass to you and she'll be nagging me all day if I don't prove we're good.” Carmilla's offer caught the teenager off guard.

Laura had just accused her of being a cheater and, instead of being offended, Carmilla was inviting her out to lunch. “Oh...Okay, sure. Just let me grab my keys and leave my Dad a note.” Laura beamed, relieved that she hadn't actually offended her new friend.

She left the door open as she headed back inside to fetch her keys and a jacket, giving Carmilla a clear view of the living room. The Hollis apartment looked homely and lived in.

The furniture was a mismatch of styles, but it was all in a good condition. There was definitely a touch of a woman's influence in the décor, like Laura's father had tried his best to keep the place from turning in to a bachelor pad after his wife's death.

“Ready!” Announced Laura, walking back to the door as she tugged on a denim jacket. The movement of her arms and shoulders made her shirt rise up, revealing a strip of the tanned flesh of her stomach; and just the slightest hint of abs. Carmilla was fairly sure she'd be calling Elsie for another booty call before the day was over.   
  


* * *

  
  


“And this, my friend, is The Daily Grind!” Carmilla announced, with an overly theatrical flourish, as they walked inside the coffee shop.

LaFontaine waved at them from behind the register, barely noticing Laura’s presence as they dealt with the lunchtime rush. A ‘rush’ for the Grind was having more than two customers in line at once.

Perry dashed off to help with the queue, leaving Laura and Carmilla to find a table. Carmilla ignored her usual couch in favour of a booth near the back. She slipped in one side, while Laura took a seat on the other. The younger girl kept looking around, taking in the sights.

The tables and chairs were all different types and colours of wood, and the walls were painted a vibrant pink. There were bookcases lining the wall closest to the leather couches that sat by the window. The place was a far cry from the Starbucks that Laura usually frequented. The Grind was a jumbled mismatched of styles that should never have worked together, but somehow did. Laura liked it.

“This is a nice place.” Laura commented, then tried not to cringe as she realised how childish that must have sounded to a philosophy major like Carmilla. She was saved from her embarrassment as Perry rejoined them, dragging LaFontaine in toe with her. Perry sat down beside Carmilla, leaving LaF to sit next to Laura.

They gave the younger girl a cursory once over, before dropping down beside her. “Hey, Newbie. I’m LaFontaine. My friends call me LaF.”  
“Hey. I’m Laura. My friends call me, well… Laura.” She laughed nervously as she shook LaFontaine’s hand. Carmilla and her friends seemed so much cooler than she was.

It was quite daunting for the teenager; who was used to spending most of her time with Kirsch and Danny. Laura wasn’t exactly a pariah, she was just one of those kids that seemed to slip through the cracks in the high school social hierarchy. She wasn’t a jock like Kirsch, or an athlete like Danny. She passed her classes with a comfortable A- average, without attracting any unwanted attention from bullies for being a nerd.

“Laura’s my neighbour, from across the hall.” Carmilla spoke like she hadn’t already told her friends all about her run in with the building manager’s daughter down in the laundry room. LaF wasn’t so willing to play along, choosing instead to make Carmilla squirm just a little bit.   
“Oh! So, you’re the one who’s good with her hands?”

If looks could kill, then Carmilla would have struck LaF dead with a single quirk of one of her perfectly groomed eyebrows.   
“Yes, Laura was the one who fixed my shower.” Carmilla’s voice was tight and strained, a warning to LaFontaine that they were walking a very thin line.

“In that case, let me buy you a coffee.” LaF was back on their feet in an instant, asking Laura what she wanted to drink. The teen tried to insist on paying, but LaFontaine wouldn’t hear of it. “Seriously, Karnstein gets so grouchy when she can’t get any. Hot water, that is.” LaF was barely suppressing a toothy grin as they watched Carmilla quietly seethe.

“Screw you, LaF.” She grumbled back at them, throwing a huff as she crossed her arms over her chest. LaFontaine let out a chuckle, blowing a kiss in her direction, before heading off to make everyone’s drinks. Carmilla rolled her eyes at them. “Ignore LaFontaine, they’re a dick.”   
“She seems nice. I like her.” Said Laura, completely unaware of the faux-pass she’d just made.

Perry dropped her gaze to her clenched hands, which were sitting on top of one another on the table. Carmilla glanced over Laura’s shoulder, checking to see whether LaFontaine was within earshot. “What? Did I say something wrong?”

“LaF is non-binary.” Carmilla explained. When Laura gave her a puzzled look in return, her voice took on the soft tone of someone speaking to an ignorant child. “They don’t identify as either gender. That’s why we say ‘they’ and ‘them’, not she or her.”   
“Oh...” Laura’s expression scrunched up, but it wasn’t in confusion or distaste. “I’m sorry. I’ll know better next time.” And that was that.

The teenager didn’t question what Carmilla had told her. Beside Carmilla, Perry shifted uncomfortably. She still hadn’t forgiven herself for how long it had taken for her to come to terms with LaFontaine’s identity; even if LaF had forgiven her a long time ago.

After the initial awkwardness wore off, Laura found herself getting along with Carmilla’s friends like a house on fire, LaF in particular. The two of them were busy playing a rousing game of Go Fish, with Perry minding the counter, when Carmilla slipped away from the table.

She went in to the unisex bathroom, and stood in front of one of the sinks, splashing water on to her face. Watching Laura with her friends had stirred something familiar within her, dredging up old memories that lingered like restless spirits. Carmilla jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Jesus, Perry. You almost gave me a heart attack!” Carmilla turned off the tap and grabbed a fistful of paper towels to dry her face off. She was scowling at her old room mate, but Perry didn’t take it personally. For Carmilla, that was practically a smile.

“You seemed upset.” Said Perry, pointing out the obvious. “Want to talk about it?”  
“Not really.” Carmilla huffed. She turned back to face the mirror and started touching up her eyeliner. Perry stood her ground, refusing to take no for an answer. Eventually, Carmilla’s shoulders sagged as she let out a sigh.

“I just…” She started, but couldn’t go on. She didn’t need to. Perry had known her long enough to know when something was bothering her. Sundays at the Grind had been a tradition back when Carmilla had been dating their other room mate, Elle. Having Laura there had to remind her of those double dates, and of everything she’d been missing for the last six months.

“Laura’s a nice kid.” Perry’s tone was kind, but her meaning was clear. Laura was just that. A kid.  
“I know.” Carmilla bit the inside of her cheek, trying not to give anything away as she focused on fixing her makeup.   
“Trust me, Per. I’m not so hard up for action that I’m going to start fucking teenagers.”

Perry visibly winced at the other girl’s crudeness. Carmilla knew full well that she hated hearing that kind of language. She knew the buttons to press in order to push people away when she needed to. “Fine. Just be careful, okay? I don’t want to see you get hurt.” 


	5. Chapter 5

“Hey! Carm! Hey.” Laura caught up with her neighbour just as she was walking through the front door. It almost slammed shut on her. “Carm!”  
“Laura, hey.” The older girl seemed distracted as she finally realised Laura was there. It had been a few days since they’d gone out to the Grind, and Laura had barely seen hide nor hair of the other girl.

“Are you okay? You said my name.” Laura laughed, more from nerves than anything else. Carmilla was acting weird.  
“Well it’s your name, isn’t it?” Carmilla huffed, still not bothering to look at her.  
“Hey!” Laura caught hold of her arm, trying to get Carmilla to stop as they reached the second floor. “What’s going on? Have I done something to upset you? Have I said something?”

“It’s nothing, Creampuff. Forget it.” Carmilla tried to brush her off, but Laura was nothing if not persistent.  
“Seriously, if you’re mad at me-”  
“Laura! Forget it! Alright?” Carmilla finally snapped. Perry’s warning had been ringing in her head all weekend. She was right. She always was. Getting mixed up with a kid like Laura was a recipe for disaster. “I’m not mad at you, okay? You didn’t do anything. You didn’t say anything. I’ve just had a long, crappy, day and I’m too tired to play nice.”

“Oh.” Laura shrunk back. “Okay then. I was just thinking that, maybe, we could have dinner tonight? I still owe you for the other night-”  
“Jesus, Cupcake. Take a hint. I’ve got better things to do with my time than hang around with some little kid!” Carmilla went too far. She knew it the second the words had left her mouth. They hit Laura like a physical blow; square in the gut.

“Laura? Is everything okay.” Danny appeared at her open door, drawn out by the shouting. The jolly green giant wasn’t looking so jolly as she glared at Carmilla.  
“Everything is fine.” Laura forced a smile, fighting back the tears that wanted to fall. Crying would only make her look like the child Carmilla clearly thought she was. “I’ll catch you later. I’ve got a ton of studying to do... See you later, Carmilla.”

Laura took off up the stairs two at a time. Tears were streaming down her cheeks by the time she slammed her front door behind her. She would have dropped to the floor right there by the door, but she heard her Dad in the kitchen. “Laura-Bear, that you sweetie?”

“Uh, yeah.” She wiped at her eyes before scrambling for her bedroom. She locked the door behind her, only feeling safe once the lock was in place. She couldn’t believe the change she’d seen in Carmilla; she’d been like a different person.

Over in her own apartment, Carmilla was climbing the walls. The look of hurt that had been on Laura’s face seemed to be engraved on the back of her eyelids. “Fuck! Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!” The closest thing to her went flying across the room. The lamp smashed against the wall with a satisfying crunch of porcelain and glass. Perry would be pissed. It had been a gift from her last Christmas.

Picking up her phone, Carmilla dialed a number that was seared in to her brain. It rang and rang. Even as the vacant dial tone began to buzz in her ear, Carmilla started to speak, letting it all pour out. “I’m sorry… Elle. I’m so sorry. I screwed up. I know that. I wish I could turn the clock back and make everything okay… but I can’t. You’re gone, and it’s killing me. God, it’s killing me. Please, just come back. Please…”

Carmilla crumpled to the ground, feeling like her insides were falling apart, as she spoke the words that Elle would never hear. She was coming undone in a way that she hadn’t in months; and it was all because of Laura. She was all for curling up on the ground and crying the night away, when a knock at the door caught her attention. It wasn’t so much a knock as a bang. It was followed by two more before she got up to answer.

She barely had time to dry her eyes, smudging her eyeliner and her mascara in the process. She was a hot mess when she opened the door to find Laura standing there. The younger girl had decided to give her neighbor a piece of her mind, but her anger had all but dissipated when Carmilla had opened the door with puffy red eyes and her makeup running. “Are you… Are you crying?” Asked Laura, concern lacing her voice.

“No!” Carmilla huffed, still rubbing furiously at her eyes. “…Are you?”  
“No!” It was Laura’s turn to rub at her cheeks. They made quite the pair. “Look. I just came over to tell you… to tell you that what you said on the stairs was really shitty! Obviously you’re upset over something, so I guess I can let it slide.”

“Let it slide?” Carmilla huffed out. “Jesus, Laura. I was a fucking cunt to you! And you’re just going to ‘let it slide’? Shout at me! Tell me I’m an asshole! Do, fucking, something!” Carmilla was shouting in Laura’s face. She expected her to walk away. To give up on her; like most people did. The last thing she expected was for Laura to close the distance between them and throw her arms around her.

The hug was totally out of the blue. It caught Carmilla off guard. She was stiff and rigid at first, but when it became clear that Laura wasn’t about to pull away, she finally relented and sunk against the younger girl. She buried her face in the crook of Laura’s neck, wishing she could take back every harsh word she had said to her downstairs. “You’re not an asshole.” Laura reassured her, her hand rubbing soothing circles against Carmilla’s back. “A bit of bitch, maybe-”

“Hey!” Carmilla pulled back with an indignant snort, managing to crack a smile as she tugged Laura inside her apartment. “You’re actually right. I am. That doesn’t mean you’re allowed to say it though… I’m sorry for all that stuff I said before. I was out of line.”

“You were.” Laura agreed, her attention going straight to the remains of the shattered lamp. “I see you found a place for the lamp. Very feng shui.”  
“Thanks.” Carmilla let out a soft laugh as she headed for the fridge. “Soda?”  
“Carm, are you going to tell me why you were so upset? Maybe I can help?”

“Not unless you can raise the dead, Cutie.” Carmilla answered offhandedly. She hadn’t intended on telling Laura the truth, but it all came spilling out anyway. “My uh, my girlfriend, Elle… She died. Some days it just gets too much, you know?”  
“Yeah.” Laura nodded. She understood just what it felt like to lose someone close. She didn’t push for details. Carmilla would tell her more in her own time. If she wanted to.

A heavy silenced stretched out between them, until Carmilla finally broke it. “So, is dinner out of the question?” They ordered from the same Italian place they’d used last time. Carmilla didn’t say any more about Elle, not until they were tucking in to their food.

“Elle and I met when we were freshman. It took us a while to get our shit together, but we started dating at the start of our second year. We shared an apartment with LaF and Per. That’s why I had to move out, after…” Carmilla faltered, pushing her hair back from her face with a sweep of her fingers.

“I couldn’t stay in that place. There were too many ghosts.” Carmilla let out a heavy sigh. She hadn’t even really talked about this stuff with Perry.  
“How did it happen? How did she pass?” Laura didn’t want to pry, but Carmilla seemed to want to talk about it. The teenager reached over, taking the other girl’s hands in her own.

“Can we talk about something else?” Carmilla suddenly pulled her hands back, fighting back yet more tears as she started to shut down. “Bigfoot looked ready to kick my ass. I think she’s still got the hots for you, Cutie.”  
“She does.” Laura admitted in a quiet voice. Danny had made it quite clear how she felt about her, but that wasn’t something Laura wanted to share with the other girl. “Can we talk about something else?”

“Sure. If sex is off the table though, that just leaves religion and politics.” Carmilla laughed. She was starting to sound more like her normal self. Laura didn’t mind. It was a lot easier to deal with a sarcastic Carmilla, than a tearful one.

“The food’s good.” Laura shrugged, opting for the safest topic of conversation. “I just wish you would have let me pay for it. That’s two dinners I owe you now.”  
“That’s okay, Creampuff. You can get the next one.” Carmilla reassured her. “Hey, do you have plans tonight? I’ve got work in an hour, if you want to tag along.” Laura lit up at the offer. “Sure. Where do you work?”

 

* * *

 

 

“You’re late.” Matska Belmonde childed as soon as Carmilla came rushing through the back door of the Alchemy Club. She had Laura in tow, who stood awkwardly behind her neighbour as her boss chewed her out for being over twenty minutes late.

“So fire me.” Carmilla replied nonchalantly. She tugged off her leather jacket and hung it up on a hook by the fire exit they’d just came in through.  
“Don’t tempt me, Kitty.” Mattie warned. Her piercing eyes traveled past Carmilla, and landed on Laura. “I see you’ve been picking up strays again.”

“Mattie. Play nice. This is Laura, my neighbour. Laura, this is my pain in the ass boss - and sister - Matska.”  
“Hey. Nice to meet you!” Laura beamed at the older woman. Carmilla had mentioned she worked for her sister, but Mattie wasn’t exactly what Laura was expecting. She tried not to let her surprise show through on her face.

Carmilla elbowed her neighbour playfully in the ribs, leaning in close to stage whisper as Mattie went to close the back door behind them, “In case you’re wondering, Mattie’s the adopted one. We haven’t told her yet, so keep it to yourself. Okay Cupcake?”

“Wait, what?” Laura snapped, unsure of whether Carmilla was being serious, or just playing her for a rise. The answer was clear when Mattie rejoined them. She took one look at Laura’s pained expression, crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes.  
“Despite what my darling baby sister might have told you, I am fully aware that I was adopted as a child. Something was a dead give away.”

“Was it how much shorter Carmilla is than you?” Laura asked with a nervous laugh, unable to help herself. To her relief, a smug smirk spread over Mattie’s blood red lips. Despite not being related by blood, it was easy to see how she and Carmilla were sisters.  
“I like this one, Kitty. You should keep her around… Now hurry up and get your cute little butt behind the bar.”

“Your sister seems nice.” Laura announced as she followed Carmilla through a narrow hallway and out behind a bar. It was a Wednesday night, and the Alchemy Club was hardly packed. They played live music over the weekend, which usually attracted quite a crowd, but they were always quiet during the week. Only a handful of tables were occupied, mostly by students drawn in by the two-for-one cocktails during happy hour.

Carmilla didn’t acknowledge Laura’s comment about her sister. She wouldn’t tell her new friend, but having Mattie come out and say she liked her was practically like having the royal seal of approval. Mattie never liked anyone that Carmilla brought around.

“Okay, Creampuff. Pass me your arm.” Carmilla reached for something sitting on one of the shelves behind the bar, and gestured for the teenager’s arm.  
“What for?” Laura frowned, but held it out to her regardless. Something cold and wet tickled against her skin, and when Laura pulled her arm back she discovered a big black ‘X’ had been drawn on the back of her hand.

“Sorry, Jail-bait. We got to mark the minors. Can’t have any frisky frat boys trying to ply you with cheap booze now, can we? Or girls, for that matter.” Carmilla added with a wink. Most teenagers Laura’s age would have felt a little childish, standing there in a college bar with an X tattooed on their skin in permanent marker. But this was the first bar Laura had ever been in. She was far too excited about it to be worried about being marked out as too young to drink.

Carmilla motioned for her to take a stool at the bar, in the corner, right by the hatch in the bar. It was meant to allow the staff to come and go, but it was jammed shut. Meaning Laura had to hop up on to the bar top and slide over, which wasn’t exactly easy for someone as small as she was; Carmilla, of course, would have made it look effortless.

The older girl set about fetching Laura a soda, leaving the teenager to her own devices. Leaning over on her stool, Laura inspected the bar hatch, trying to figure out why it wouldn’t open. It didn’t take long for her to spot the problem. “Hey Carm, I can fix this if you’d like?”

“Knock yourself out, Cutie.” Carmilla shrugged, setting Laura’s drink down on a coaster in front of her.  
“Do you have, like, a file, or a blade or something?” Laura asked, seeing as she didn’t have any of her tools on her.

Carmilla grabbed a multi-tool from behind the bar. She mostly used it for opening bottles, and intimidating any patrons that tried to get handsy with her on a Saturday night. There was a thin blade on it that would suit Laura’s needs quite well. Wedging it in the crack between the bar and the heavily lacquered hatch, Laura moved it back and forth in a sawing motion, trying to loosen it up.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing to my bar?” Laura jumped as Mattie sounded behind her. The multi-tool almost dropped out of her hands as she scrambled to her feet. Carmilla’s older sister was downright intimidating, and Carmilla was too busy serving a group of college kids to notice Laura cowering in front of her.

“Oh… I… Uh… I was fixing it?” Laura pulled on the hatch, hoping to be proved right. It was still a little stiff, but with the lacquer chipped away, she was eventually able to wrench it open. Mattie didn’t say a word. She just kept on staring at Laura, with piercing brown eyes that were so dark they were almost black. Laura began to babble, as she often did when she was nervous.

“Um, whoever replaced this hatch recently, they applied the varnish while it was shut over, and it sealed it shut. That’s why it wouldn’t open… Sorry. I was just trying to help.”  
“How do you know it’s been replaced recently?” Mattie asked, her tone still harsh and demanding.  
“Oh... Well… there are marks here where the old hinges were, and the wood of the hatch is a shade lighter. You’re contractor really didn’t do that good of a job… If you don’t mind me saying… Ma’am.”

“Come with me.” Mattie ordered, waltzing through the open bar hatch and not bothering to check that Laura was following her. She didn’t need to. The teenager did as she was told, and scurried on after her. She had visions of Carmilla’s sister tossing her out of her club for vandalism. “How are you with locks?” Mattie asked, stopping in front of an innocuous looking wooden door. The door was ajar, and clearly not catching properly.

“Uh, tubular or mortise locks?” Laura’s question was met with a blank stare. “Okay then.” Dropping to her knees, she got to work inspecting the broken lock on the door. It turned out to be the door to the store room, where the top-shelf spirits were kept.

“So, tubular lock…” Laura had a tendancy to mutter to herself while she was working. It often helped her to figure out and solve the problem at hand. She turned the outside knob, watching the action of the lock closely. She repeated the action a couple more times, with the door both open and closed over. “Got it! The latch bolt, this beveled bit right here, it’s warped out of shape. That’s why it’s not catching the strike plate properly and locking.”

“I have no idea what any of those words mean. Can you fix it? I’ll pay, of course.” Mattie reached in to the inside pocket of her suit jacket.  
“Oh, that really isn’t necessary! It’s a five minute job at most. I could maybe replace the latch bolt, if you have another door like this one and don’t mind me taking it apart? And I’ll need a cross-headed screwdriver. The one that looks like a star…”

The bar was starting to get busy, so Carmilla didn’t notice that Laura had wandered off with her sister. She was busy making a pitcher of Long Island iced tea, when she felt a pair of hands snake around her waist. “Hey, Gorgeous.”

“Elsie!” Carmilla huffed, shaking the other girl off and stepping to the side. “Knock it off. I’m working here. What are you doing in anyway? Isn’t this your night off?”  
“I swapped.” Elsie shrugged, undeterred by Carmilla giving her the brush off. The blond hopped up on to the bar, playing idly with her long braid as she waited for Carmilla to finish serving.

Carmilla had a horrible feeling that the other girl had swapped her shift over in order to work with her. Elsie was clingy like that. Carmilla glanced warily over at Laura’s stool, frowning when she found it empty. A quick scan of the small crowd told her Laura wasn’t mingling somewhere in the bar.

“Great. Elsie, take over for me, will you?” Carmilla didn’t wait for an answer as she headed out the back. “Cutie, you back here? Laura?”  
“Over here!” Laura called out to her, sounding quite chipper. Carmilla didn’t need to worry about Mattie having dragged her neighbour off for a re-imagining of the Spanish Inquisition then.

When Carmilla walked in to the store room, she found Laura kneeling by the door, tinkering with the lock while Mattie sat on a crate full of beer bottles, supervising the younger woman. “Kitty, you really must bring friends like this around more often. Laura here is quite useful.”

“Mattie, I brought her here for some fun, not to be your new personal handyman.” Carmilla rolled her eyes at her older sister.  
“As hands on as she is, your little poppet here is much too young for my tastes.” Mattie teased, enjoying the crease of Carmilla’s brow as she scowled at her.

Laura, for her part, dropped the screwdriver she was busy using. Her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. “All done, Miss Belmonde.” Getting to her feet, Laura dusted her hands off on her jeans.  
“Please, call me Mattie. And take this for your trouble.” Matska tried to hand over a fifty, but Laura flat out refused.

“No. Really, I couldn’t! It was nothing much.” Laura objected, refusing to take the offered money.  
“Between the bar hatch and the door lock, my usual contractor would have charged me four as much as this. Please, don’t insult me by refusing my money.” Mattie insisted, pressing the money in to Laura’s hand.

“Hey, Cupcake, why don’t you head back through to the bar? I’ll follow you through.” Carmilla ushered the younger girl out of the store room, leaving just her and her sister in there. She waited until Laura was out of earshot to turn on Mattie. “You didn’t tell me Elsie was working tonight! I changed my shifts to get away from her!”

“She swapped with Tom.” Mattie shrugged. What did she care who was working what shift? So long as someone turned up to run the bar. “If you could keep it in your pants - and stop screwing your way through the female employees - then we wouldn’t keep having this little problem. Would we?”

“Nobody else was this clingy!” Carmilla objected with a heavy sigh. She’d invited Laura to tag along with her to the bar, thinking it would be a quiet night, and that she’d get a chance to make it up to her poor neighbour for upsetting her earlier. Elsie being there definitely counted as a spanner in the works.

 

“Hey, do I know you?” A familiar blond girl approached as Laura slipped out from behind the bar, taking her stool by the hatch she’d just fixed. It took Laura a second, but she eventually recognized her as the girl who’d been coming out of Carmilla’s apartment early Sunday morning. Elsie clearly recognized her.

“Oh, uh, I’m Carm’s neighbour. Laura. I think we ran in to each other the other morning.” Laura tried her best to plaster a friendly smile on to her face. She didn’t know the first thing about the blond girl - other than the fact that she was Carmilla’s booty call - so she tried her best not to judge her outright.

“Elsie.” The other girl held out her hand for Laura, who shook it amicably, until Elsie started to squeeze a little tighter than was needed. “I’m Carmilla’s girlfriend.” Laura had heard otherwise, but she didn’t think it would be a good idea to mention that to Elsie.  
“Super. Nice to meet you!” Laura chirped, already backtracking to go get Carmilla.

“Whoa there, Cutie. Where’s the fire?” Carmilla walked out front, crashing in to Laura; who was busy backing up to the door. Her hand went to the teenager’s hip to steady her. The action didn’t go unnoticed by Elsie. The blonde’s eyes narrowed and her lips curled back in a sneer.

Carmilla knew exactly what was going on. She dropped her mouth next to Laura’s ear, her hand staying put on the younger girl’s hip. “Come on, Cupcake. Mattie gave me the night off. Let’s go make the most of it.”  
“Sure. Okay.” Laura nodded along dumbly, her stomach doing somersaults after Carmilla’s lips accidentally brushed the side of her cheek. “Bye Elsie. It was nice to meet you.”

“Bye Elsie, it was super nice to meet you!” Carmilla broke out in a fit of laughter the second they were outside of the club, her voice going particularly high in an attempt to mimic the younger girl.  
“Stop! That’s not even funny!” Laura shoved at her shoulder, though despite what she’d said, she was biting back a grin. “I was being nice!”

“That’s your problem, Hollis.” Carmilla shook her head, still laughing as the fingers of her right hand laced through Laura’s of their own accord. “You’re too nice.”  
“If being ‘too nice’ is my only problem then I’ll take it!” Laura huffed, though her smile had finally broken out on her face.

They reached Carmilla’s car far too soon for her liking, meaning she had to give up Laura’s hand as she climbed behind the wheel. The teenager got in the passenger side, shivering a little as she sat back against the cold leather upholstery.

“Here.” Carmilla reached on to the backseat and pulled out a hooded sweatshirt. It was her college sweater, deep maroon in colour, with ‘Silas U’ emblazoned on the front in bold white lighters. It was a little baggy, just how Carmilla liked her sweaters, but Laura appreciated the instant warmth it offered once she’d tugged it on. “Thanks, Carm.”  
“No problem, Creampuff.”

 

The drive home was short and sweet. They pulled up outside the Lustig Building just before a light rain began to fall. “Okay Cupcake, looks like we’re going to have to make a run for it… Ready?” Carmilla had her door opened and closed behind her before Laura even had her seatbelt undone.

Screams filled the air as the two girls ran for the steps of their building. They sheltered under the porch while Laura fumbled for her keys. “Any day now, Cupcake…” Carmilla grumbled from behind her, taking the brunt of the strong wind that was sending the rain lashing their way.

Laura ignored the jibe, choosing instead to roll her eyes just as the lock clicked open. “Patience is a virtue, Carm…” With that, she turned and gave the other girl a playful shove, sending her stumbling back towards the step, and out in to the rain.

“You little…” Laura didn’t stick around long enough to find out what the end of Carmilla’s cuss was as she bolted inside and headed for the stairs. She made it all the way up to the fourth floor, her wet tennis shoes squelching against every step, before Carmilla caught up to her.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Laura squealed as Carmilla crashed against her - red cheeked and panting for breath - and pinned her against the wall at the top of the stairs. Laura’s apologies didn’t sound all that sincere when she was giggling through them. Both girls were out of breath, their chests rising and falling as they tried to catch them again. Laura was small but fast. Carmilla almost hadn’t caught her. Now that she had, she wasn’t quite sure what to do about it.

Their laughter died away as Carmilla’s gaze dipped to Laura’s lips. A little droplet of rain ran down from her hair, sliding down her nose before precariously hanging there, ready to fall in to the abyss at any second. Carmilla knew exactly how that felt. Before she knew what she was doing, the older girl was leaning in, her attention fixed on Laura’s mouth -

“Monkey, that you?” A gruff voice called from Laura’s open front door, and the girls jumped apart. Carmilla was grateful for the blown bulb at the top of the stairs, meaning the light was too dim for Laura to notice the blush on her cheeks; or for the other girl’s father to notice what had just been about to happen.  
“Yeah, Dad. It’s me.” Laura was mentally kicking herself at how strained her voice sounded. Not to mention the fact that her dad had called her by her nickname in front of Carm, who-

What exactly had Carmilla been about to do before he’d interrupted them? Had she really been going to kiss her? Had she wanted to whisper some sort of teasing insult in her ear? Laura’s head was up in the clouds, she barely noticed when Carmilla started heading for her door. “’Night, Cupcake. Mr H.” She nodded at the man standing by his door. He gave her a tired smile back, coupled with a nod of his own.  
“Goodnight, Carmilla.”

“Hi Dad.” Laura’s cheeks were still flushed from running up the stairs, among other things, and she was preying her omniscient father wouldn’t notice.  
“Cold out?” John asked, his tone too casual for him to have caught sight of the two girls out in the hall. When whatever had almost happened, happened.  
“Yeah. It’s just started raining.” It was only as Laura started tugging her sweatshirt over her head that she remembered it was Carmilla’s. She let it fall back down, deciding it could wait until morning to be returned.

John sat back down on his recliner and picked up his mug of steaming tea, which was sitting beside an upturned book. John Hollis wasn’t the stereotypical blue collar worker, who would finish the day with a cold beer and a football game. No, Laura’s father was much happier with a good book and a cup of tea.

Laura had occasionally seen him drinking the odd beer at a BBQ through the summer, or a tipple of scotch at Christmas, but John wasn’t much of a drinker. Being a building manager, and the single father of a teenage girl, he was pretty much on call 24 hours of the day. He smiled up at his daughter as she came over to sit beside him on the armrest of his recliner. “Want me to make you some cocoa? There’s hot water in the pot… Or I could warm some milk?”

“I’m good, thanks. I think I’ll just go straight to bed.” It was barely after ten, but Laura wasn’t much of a night owl, especially on school nights. Leaning over, she pressed a goodnight kiss to her father’s cheek.  
“Goodnight Monkey.”

Laura was almost down the hall and at the door to her room when a thought struck her. She bounced back up the hall, poking her head around the corner and shooting her dad a winning smile. “Uh, hey… Dad?”  
“Laura.” John put his book down in his lap and twisted his neck to look over at her. Even without seeing the sickly sweet smile on her face, the tone of Laura’s voice was enough for him to know she wanted something from him.

“Would you mind if I invited Carmilla over for dinner tomorrow night? We’ve had takeout at her place twice now, and I figured I could cook tomorrow night… If that’s okay with you?”  
“Of course. If you and Carmilla are going to be… friendly, then I’d like to get to know her a little better.”  
“Great! Thanks, Dad!” Laura completely missed what he was hinting at.

Practically skipping back to her room, Laura flopped down on to her bed and pulled out her phone to text Carmilla and ask her over. She’d gotten the other girl’s number the week before, but she’d never had a reason to use it, seeing as Carmilla lived right across the hall.

 

**Cupcake(22.14):** Hey Carm! It’s Laura. Do you have plans tomorrow night? If not, would you like to come over for dinner with me and my Dad? :)

Carmilla read over the text message that Laura had just sent, twice, unaware that it had taken nearly a whole five minutes for Laura to compose it. She’d added and deleted more kisses on the end than she could count, before settling on a smiley face.

Carmilla herself was in a tizzy over almost kissing the younger girl. What the hell had she been thinking? Well, she hadn’t been. Clearly. Carmilla kept picking up her phone and then putting it back down again, torn between messaging Laura back, and calling Elsie over for some much needed stress relief.

**Carm(22.19):** Sure. I’ve got class until 6 though. I’ll be home around 7

**Cupcake(22.19):** Great! 7 is fine! See you then!  
**Cupcake(22.20):** Goodnight! :)

**Carm(22.23):** ‘Night, Cupcake x.

 


	6. Chapter 6

  
“LaF! Hit me up with double espresso and a grilled cheese.” Carmilla dumped her backpack down on her usual couch at the front of the Grind, calling out her order to LaFontaine; who was slouched over the counter, reading a magazine. They marked the page they were on before standing up and having a stretch. Even during the lunchtime ‘rush’, the Grind was empty.

“Heart attack with a double cardiac. Got it!” LaFontaine’s cafe lingo might have been one of the reasons the coffee shop was so empty. At best, their customer service was a little lax. It annoyed Perry to no end when they described the drinks and beverages as various medical ailments; Though they’d yet to put Carmilla off ordering her usual lunch.

With only forty minutes until her next class, Carmilla needed something quick and easy to scoff while she was reading up on her notes. LaF helpfully obliged, making themselves a grilled cheese sandwich and taking an impromptu break while they were at it.   
  
They joined Carmilla over on the couch, inspecting both grilled cheeses carefully before placing one of them down in front of Carmilla; the one that was mostly burnt around the edges.

“Nice.” Carmilla scoffed at her friend with a roll of her eyes. LaFontaine shrugged, their mouth full as they replied with, ‘You get what you pay for’. They had Carmilla there, seeing as she didn’t technically pay for her lunches at the Grind. Between the lack of customers and Carmilla’s freebies, it was a miracle the place was even still afloat.

“You coming to the poetry slam tonight?” LaF asked, reminding Carmilla of just exactly how the Grind managed to keep from going bankrupt. As quiet as they were during the day, the place came alive during the evening, when live bands, open mic nights, and poetry slams drew in large crowds.   
  
Carmilla often dropped in to listen to the poetry. For amateurs, some of the poets were actually pretty good. Perry was even able to talk Carmilla in to reading out some of her own work, when the mood took her.

“Sure. I’ll probably get here late though. I’m having dinner with Laura and her dad tonight.”  
“Dinner with the folks already, huh?” LaF teased, expecting Carmilla to bite back with one of her usual snarky remarks. “Carmilla?” LaFontaine prodded their friend in the arm when she failed to answer, her expression distant.

The last thing LaFontaine expected was what came tumbling out of Carmilla’s mouth. “I almost kissed her last night. Laura. My neighbour… We almost kissed.” It had been playing on Carmilla’s mind all night and she needed someone to talk to about it. Someone preferably non-judgmental, like LaF.

“So, from the panicked tone of your voice, I’m guessing I shouldn’t give you a high-five right now?” LaFontaine wore a puzzled expression, unsure of how to take Carmilla’s admission. The girl’s brooding glare answered them in the affirmative. “Okay. Spill. I want details.”

“There’s nothing really to tell.” Carmilla shrugged, her leather jacket bunching at the shoulders. “We were messing around and I forgot myself. I went to kiss her. Luckily her dad interrupted us before I could dig my own grave.” Carmilla let out a bone weary sigh, like confessing the almost kiss had taken a load off of her shoulders.

There was still more she was keeping to herself, and LaFontaine knew her well enough to know this. They sat there, silently staring at Carmilla until she caved. “When we almost… When I went to kiss her. I forgot who she was for a second. I got so caught up in the moment… I almost convinced myself she was Elle.”

LaFontaine didn’t say a word. Wrapping an arm around Carmilla’s shoulders, they held her close, just letting her process everything. Theirs was the rare kind of friendship where no words were needed to comfort one another. The silence spoke volumes.

“After it happened, after the accident, people kept telling me it would get better. Easier. I thought it was bullshit. I wanted it to be. I never wanted losing her to get any easier, but being around Laura…” Carmilla sighed and shook her head, not quite able to put what she was feeling in to words. Laura made it all so much easier. Somehow, seemingly without even trying.

“Carm, Elle wouldn’t want you to grieve for her for the rest of your life. You know that. Nothing made her happier than seeing you happy.” LaF rubbed their hand in a soothing circular motion against Carmilla’s back. It was the same thing Perry did for them whenever they were bordering on an anxiety attack.

“If Laura makes you happy, then roll with it. Have dinner with her. Kiss her if you want to. Just… don’t put your life on hold because of what happened to Elle. You can’t just keep screwing around with girls like Elsie, because you’re afraid to get close to someone again-”

“Thank you, Dr Freud.” Carmilla pulled away with a huff, but her tone held no malice. She knew LaFontaine was right. She couldn’t keep messing around with one night stands and meaningless hookups - especially with Elsie - but that didn’t mean she was ready for something more serious.

“Think about it, at least.” LaF urged her. “Laura’s a sweet kid.”  
“Yeah… She’s a kid.” Carmilla agreed with a sigh; and therein lay the problem. Laura was seventeen years old.   
  
Even with less than four years separating them, Carmilla felt like she had lived a lifetime between graduating high school and reaching her final year of college. The distance between the two girls, which could be measured in a lot more than just years, was simply too great.

 

* * *

 

  
“Jump up, Little Hottie!” Kirsch grinned as she unlocked his truck so Laura could climb in the back; climb being the operative word. Kirsch’s Chevy had been jacked up on 22 inch rims, making it a herculean task for Laura to get up in to the back seat.

“Kirsch, have these tires gotten bigger again?” Laura grumbled as she scaled her way in to her usual seat, sitting behind Danny.  
“Nah, I just pumped them up, is all.” Kirsch answered. When he’d first opted for the custom rims he’d failed to tell Laura about them. For a while, Laura had actually been convinced she’d shrunk some.

“Hey, D!” Kirsch’s whole face lit up as Danny yanked the front passenger door open. Had anyone else treated his precious truck so badly, Kirsch would have reprimanded them, but he let it slide with Danny. He let a lot of things slide when it came to Danny.

“Hey.” Danny greeted her sort-of-boyfriend with a timid peck to the cheek; though Kirsch’s wide eyed grin would suggest that she’d just announced her undying love for him. In the backseat, Laura shifted uncomfortably, looking out of the window to give them some privacy.

Danny caught sight of her in the wing mirror, offering her ex a weak smile. “Hey Laura.” Things were still far from normal between the three of them, but they were slowly getting there; one awkward day at a time.

Danny had swim practice last period on a Thursday. Her long hair was tied back and still damp, making it look a dark russet colour. She looked tired as she sat up front, her head leaning back against the rest, her eyes occasionally closing over for a few seconds at a time.

As well as being captain of the varsity swimming team, president of the Summer Society - the girls track and athletics team - and head of the yearbook committee, Danny was taking many of the same AP classes as Laura. The other girl never seemed to stop to take a breath.  
  
Kirsch drove with the radio on low, knowing better than to blast Bon Jovi out of the speakers whilst Danny was dozing off. He pulled the truck in to his usual parking spot, in the lot behind the Lustig building.

“Laura, you wanna come up and play COD for a bit?” Kirsch asked, hoping to get in some ‘bro’ time with his childhood friend while Danny did her homework.  
“Sorry, Kirsch. I’ve got plans tonight. Maybe tomorrow?”  
“Sure! No problem!” Kirsch accepted the brush off without question.

“What plans?” Danny wasn’t as easy to shake off as Kirsch was. She questioned Laura as the three of them walked around the front of the building.

  
“My new neighbor, Carmilla, she’s coming over for dinner with Dad and me tonight.” Laura answered as nonchalantly as she could, trying not to make it sound like a big deal; even if it was all she’d been able to think about all day.

“Oh.” Danny fell quiet after that. She was jealous. Laura could read it all over face. Even Kirsch could. His smile stretched even wider across his face, to a point that probably should have been painful, as he tried to act like everything was fine between the three of them.

“Have fun Little Hottie, and I’m holding you to COD tomorrow!” Kirsch scooped the tiny girl up in to a crushing bear hug, before putting her back down on the ground outside of Danny’s door. For all he lived on the third floor, Kirsch wouldn’t walk up the next flight of stairs with Laura.

He’d hang around outside Danny’s, waiting until Laura was out of sight to say goodbye to his girlfriend properly. Laura didn’t hang around making things anymore awkward for the couple. She took the stairs two at a time, eager to get home and make a start on dinner. Carmilla would be there in just a few hours, and Laura had a lot to do.

 

  
Carmilla glared at her own reflection in the full length mirror that was fixed to the back of her bedroom door. The room behind her was a mess. It looked like her closet had exploded. It was almost seven, and Carmilla was only dressed from the waist down. She’d settled on a short denim skirt and some black, knee-high, stockings, but she couldn’t decide what to wear with them.

“Stupid…” Carmilla gave a shake of her head, making her freshly curled hair fall in to her face. She brushed it away with a groan. Why was she getting so worked up over dinner with Laura and her dad?

Rummaging back through her reject pile - which was basically the entire contents of her wardrobe dumped on the floor - Carmilla eventually settled on a sleeveless shirt. It was a washed out grey colour, with the different phases of the moon on the front of it.

Carmilla scowled at her reflection again as she fluffed at her hair. What she saw wasn’t perfect, but it would jut have to do. After a quick touch-up of her eyeliner, she grabbed an expensive looking bottle of wine from in the kitchen and headed across the hall to Laura’s apartment.

“Carm! Hey! Right on time.” Laura was beaming as she opened the door and ushered her neighbour inside. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, held in place by a pencil, and she was wearing an apron with ‘Kiss the Cook!’ scrawled on the front of it. Carmilla was sorely tempted to oblige.

“Hey, Cupcake. I brought some wine. I wasn’t sure what we were having, so I just went with the white.” Carmilla handed over the bottle before she shrugged her leather jacket off. She wasn’t sure why she had worn it just to cross the hallway, but it wasn’t like she was thinking straight in general.

“Wow, thanks Carm. I’ll give it to Dad. Oh, and we’re having salmon. Wait. Do you like fish? Shoot, I should have thought to ask you first. I can make-”  
“Whoa there, Cutie! Relax.” Carmilla let out a throaty chuckle as she placed her hands on Laura’s shoulders, in a bid to avoid her going in to full blown anxiety.

“Take a deep breath. Salmon is my favourite. I’m sure it will be delicious… Is that something burning?” Carmilla sniffed at the air, detecting the slightest hint of something being burnt, along with the delicious aroma of the rest of dinner being cooked.

“Oh crap!” Shoving the wine back in to Carmilla’s hand, the younger girl took off racing in to the kitchen. Carmilla followed after her at a slower pace, rolling her eyes at the teenager’s seemingly endless reserves of energy.

The apartment was open plan, just like Carmilla’s, but John had built an island to separate the kitchen from the living area. Pots and pans were bubbling away on the hob, and Laura was busy wrestling with some rather crispy looking roast potatoes, which seemed to be stuck to the tray and blackened on the edges.

John Hollis was sat in his recliner, the radio beside him on low. He was dressed in a button down and a pair of jeans - instead of the oil stained overalls Carmilla usually saw him in - and it looked like he’d even trimmed his beard. It looked shorter and neater, and some of the grey flecks that had previously been in it were gone.

“Hey, Mr H.” Carmilla greeted the middle-aged man with a nod; which he returned as she perched on the end of one of the sofa cushions. There was an awkward kind of silence between them as John openly sized Carmilla up; as if trying to ascertain whether she was going to break his little girl’s heart.

Carmilla tried to hold his gaze, but she broke first and looked down at her hands. Reminded of the wine, she thrust it out towards him. “I brought this. I hope you like white.”

“Thank you, Carmilla.” John reached over to take the wine. He inspected it with an approving nod and a low whistle. Carmilla guessed it was good, it was part of a hamper that her mother had sent as a moving gift. “Nice… You’re twenty-one, right?”

John’s welcoming smile never wavered, but Carmilla could practically hear the change in the air as he pressed her on her age. “Yes, sir.” She hastily nodded, wondering when the last time was, if ever, that she’d called someone ‘sir’.

John nodded, rubbing at his beard almost absently. He had been a marine - before Laura’s mom had fallen pregnant with her - and years of physical labor as a building manager had kept him in peak shape. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, revealing deeply tanned flesh stretched out over bulging muscles.   
  
Carmilla’s first impression of the man as a burly bear hadn’t changed much, but she was hoping he was the friendly, picnic-basket-stealing, kind of bear; and not the murderous kind.

“And you’re a student at the university? Laura said you were a philosophy major.” John pressed on.  
“Yes… sir.” Carmilla couldn’t remember ever being so nervous around a girl’s father. Hell, she couldn’t remember ever meeting a girl’s father. Meeting Elle’s for the first time had hardly counted. Not when it was at her funeral.

“Carmilla?” John had obviously asked her something else, but she’d been too distracted to hear it. Pulling herself back out of the past, she blinked at Laura’s dad and asked him to repeat himself. “I said do you want a glass?” He held up the bottle Carmilla had just handed over, an easier smile playing across his face. He’d obviously had his fun playing the big, bad, overprotective, father, and was finally cutting her a little slack.  
“God, yes please...”

“Dinner’s almost ready!” Laura called out cheerfully, from over in the kitchen. The teenager was oblivious to the inquisition that her father had just been conducting. “You guys can go ahead and sit down at the table.”  
  
“So, Carmilla, how are you liking the building?” John’s line of questioning eased up as they sat at the table. Carmilla caught sight of Laura tugging off her apron, and letting down her hair, as she was answering.  
“It has it’s attractions…”

Conversation got easier as Carmilla sipped at her wine. Laura had a glass too, though it was watered down with lemonade. The girls were sat facing each other, with John at the head of the table. He asked more of the usual, mundane questions, like: Where had Carmilla grown up? How many siblings did she have etc; though Carmilla’s answers were far from boring to Laura.

The other girl had been born in Austria. Her German mother and American father had met at the same international university in Salzburg. They’d wed and lived in Europe for a few years after graduation, while Carmilla’s father worked on building up his business. She had one older sister, and one younger brother respectively. Both were adopted. Carmilla had been her - supposedly barren - mother’s little miracle.

Her parents had never expected to have a child of their own. They’d adopted Matska from an orphanage in Paris. Three years later Carmilla’s mother had fallen naturally with her. They’d adopted Will four years after, when Daniel Karnstein’s brother, and sister-in-law, had been involved in a fatal crash that had left their six month old son an orphan.

Theirs was an unusual family, but Carmilla loved both of her siblings as if they were her own blood. Even after Mattie and Carmilla had moved out, mostly to get out from under their mother’s influence, they made the time to keep in touch with their baby brother.

“This is delicious.” Carmilla complimented the food, much to Laura’s delight. She’d managed to salvage most of the potatoes and the green beans and creamed corn complimented the salmon quite well.  
  
“Thanks.” Laura beamed at the praise. She liked to cook, but enthusiasm wasn’t much of a substitute for actual skill, and her dishes didn’t always turn out that well. She was glad things had gone relatively smoothly for Carmilla coming over. “Make sure you save room for dessert. It’s pecan pie!”

 

  
“You know, Monkey, you roll anything other than a four and you’re going to have a whopper of a hotel bill!” John rubbed his hands with glee, taking far too much enjoyment in his daughter’s predicament. Across the table from him, Carmilla looked just as entertained by Laura’s misery.

“It’s not fair! You two bought up, like, everything!” Laura huffed, while scooping the dice up in her hand. What had started out as a friendly game of Monopoly had evolved in to something ugly, with friend pitted against friend, and father against daughter.

“You shouldn’t have been so preoccupied with buying all the stations then, should you Cutie?” Carmilla teased, taking John’s side in ganging up on the teenager. Laura took the mature approach, and stuck her tongue out at the other girl. Biting the bullet, she finally rolled.

“Boom!” Laura jumped up as she somehow managed to roll a four, passing safely past the corner of the board that her dad and Carmilla had loaded up with hotels.

“Take a chance, Hollis.” Carmilla’s lips curled up in to a crooked smile as she picked up one of the chance cards and handed it over. Laura had to suppress a shiver as their hands grazed. She was still grinning as she started reading the card, though her giddiness quickly gave way to frustration. “Go straight to jail! Seriously?”

The game wore on for another hour, long after Laura had been bankrupted and forced to sit on the sidelines and watch. “Good game, Mr H.” Carmilla shook his hand as she handed over her last dollar.  
“You too Carmilla. Nice effort ladies, but it looks like J-Dog is the winner!”

“Dad, you have got to stop talking to Kirsch.” Laura groaned loudly at his attempts to be cool. She face-planted her palm as Carmilla laughed along with him.  
“Word, Mr H.” They bumped fists, which outside of the nineties was just cringe-worthy.

“Please don’t encourage him.” Laura implored as she saw the other girl to the door. It was later than any of them had realised, and they all had early starts in the morning; with Carmilla insisting that any lecture before lunch counted as an early start.

“You’re dad’s pretty cool, Hollis.” Carmilla objected, bumping shoulders with her on her way out the door. Growing up, she’d never been particularly close to the families of those few people who’d she’d tolerated enough to consider as friends.

“Well, you definitely made a new fan.” Laura teased. “I still can’t believe you guys teamed up to kick my ass at Monopoly!”  
“Sorry Cutie. Sometimes you’ve just got to learn when to play nice with others.”  
“Yeah, but you could have teamed up with me!” Laura huffed, only half joking.

The pout she wore was adorable. Carmilla was overwhelmed by the urge to kiss it right off her face. “Sorry Creampuff… I figured letting your dad win was a sure-fire way to get him to like me.” Carmilla tried to make a joke of it, but she really had wanted Mr Hollis to like her.

“I think you were doing okay before you helped him trash me at Monopoly.” Laura laughed, her cheeks glowing as she nervously ducked her head. Without word or warning, Laura darted forward, pressing a chaste kiss to Carmilla’s cheek. “Thanks for coming over tonight. It was fun.”

“Any time, Cutie.” Carmilla winked at her, enjoying the way Laura’s cheeks were growing bright red. She was even cuter when she was flustered. “I should get going. A girl needs her beauty sleep… Goodnight, Creampuff.”

Laura stopped herself before she could say anything stupid, like that Carmilla was beautiful enough as it was. Instead she settled on something safer. “Goodnight, Carm. See you tomorrow?”  
“Count on it, Creampuff.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Netflix keeps suggesting I watch Buffy, Doctor Who, and films based on books by Nicholos Sparks… You have officially taken over my feed,Creampuff.” Carmilla huffed, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face.  
“Come on! You loved The Notebook!” Laura objected. She was busy standing over by the stove, popping corn. Because, according to Laura, the microwave stuff was a cheap imitation.

Carmilla thought that was rich, coming from a girl who seemed to exist solely on processed junk food. “I believe I actually said it was mass produced drivel, with absolutely no literary value.” Carmilla pointed out, while hanging over the back of her couch and watching for Laura’s reaction.

They’d hung out a lot in the month since Carmilla had moved in to the building, and the older girl relished in provoking her every chance she got. “Excuse me, Miss I-only-read-books-by-guys-who’ve-been-dead-for-over-a-hundred-years, but you cried at Dear John!”

“I was crying because you made me watch it!” Carmilla argued, earning a scornful look from Laura. The teenager threw a piece of popcorn at her as she was emptying it in to a bowl. “Hey! Watch it Hollis, that’s hot!”  
“I’m sure it won’t hurt you, what with you being so thick skinned and all.” Laughed Laura. She finished pouring out the popcorn and joined Carmilla over on the couch.

The other girl waited until Laura was settled before she lay her legs over her. Laura didn’t bat an eyelid at the familiar action. She just placed the bowl on Carmilla’s lap, so they could both share it. “If I remember correctly, it’s my turn to pick the movie anyway.” Laura snatched the remote from her hands as Carmilla started flicking through her play list.

“No! Laura, I swear to god, I am not watching another soppy romantic comedy, or a musical, or anything with with Channing Tatum in it!”  
“Well, what would you like to watch, Grumpy-Cat?” Laura asked - as she usually did - which often led to Carmilla picking the movie. It had been Laura’s ‘turn’ for the last three times.

“I thought you’d never ask.” Carmilla grinned, taking the remote back from Laura. “Nothing too scary though, or gory! And no subtitles! I’d like to watch a movie tonight, not read it.” Carmilla rolled her eyes at that. “You’re still whining about Versus?” She shook her head, though her tone was playful. “Just be grateful I haven’t made you watch Lady Vengeance. Yet.”

“Okay, I’m taking charge of the clicker! Gimme!” Laura reached out to take the remote back, but Carmilla held it up over her head in protest.  
“No way, you said I could choose, I’m choosing!”  
“Give it! Carm!”

“No can do, Short-stack!” Carmilla laughed, holding the remote just out of Laura’s grasp.  
“Carm, I’m like an inch shorter than you!” She huffed indignantly, still clambering to reach her prize.  
“Yeah, well, size matters, Cutie.” Carmilla started to laugh, but it quickly turned in to a full on giggle as Laura clambered in to her lap, grasping for the remote.

It dropped out of her hand and clattered to the floor as Laura’s knee slipped, dropping between her parted legs. Carmilla’s breath hitched, her laughter dying in her throat. Laura’s expression turned to one of bewilderment for the second it took her to realise what was wrong. Carmilla didn’t notice. She was too busy staring at the other girl’s lips. They were so close, it wouldn’t take much for her to just reach up and-

“Kitty!” A bang at the door broke whatever spell had settled over Carmilla. It kicked Laura in to action too,  
with the younger girl scrambling back over to her side of the couch. Another round of pounding at the door followed. “Kitty! Open up!”

“Who the hell is Kitty?” Laura frowned as Carmilla headed for the door. She yanked it open, glaring daggers at the eighteen year old boy standing in front of her.  
“Hey Sis.”

“William. Ever heard of calling?” Carmilla snarled at her younger brother as he barged past her, inviting himself inside. Despite being adoptive siblings, the two looked quite similar, sharing the same dark hair and eyes, as wellas a sharp, angular jaw and high cheekbones.

Will was technically Carmilla’s cousin - being the son of her father’s brother - but his parents had been killed in a car accident when he was barely four months old. The Karnstein’s had adopted and raised William as their own. Carmilla had been three at the time, and more than a little enamored by her new baby brother; though the attraction had soon worn off.

“Mother’s off on one again. I packed a bag and took off.” Will answered with a weary shrug. The implication was unspoken. Had anyone else turned up on her doorstep, unannounced, Carmilla would have sent them packing.

Will’s gaze skirted over to Laura, who was still sitting sheepishly on the couch like a spare part. For a second, he looked like he was scared that Carmilla might actually send him away. “Go drop your stuff in the spare room. There’s leftovers in the fridge if you’re hungry.”

“Thanks, Kitty!” Will had been over to the apartment a couple of times before. He didn’t need Carmilla to tell him where the spare room was. “Hey.” He greeted Laura with a confident smile, looking and sounding even more like his older sister.

“Hi.” Laura held her hand up and waved at him, feeling rather awkward. For a brief moment, right before Will  
arrived, Laura had been ready to go ahead and kiss her neighbor. The inclination was still there, as it had been since they’d first met, but Will hadn’t been the only one to walk through the front door; Laura’s commonsense had walked in right along side him.

Carmilla was older. She was a third year college student, with a paying job and her own place. She could get any girl she wanted. Laura had no hope of ever moving out of the friend zone. “Should I go?” She asked Carmilla, as the door to the spare room closed behind Will.

The other girl seemed distracted. It took her a second to answer. “What? No... No, you don’t have to leave.” Carmilla offered her a crooked grin as she bent down to retrieve the television remote from the floor. “We may need more popcorn though.”

 

* * *

 

 

“I can’t believe you made me watch that trash.” Carmilla groaned as the end credits of the romcom, which Laura had picked, started to roll.  
“Come on, you loved it really! Back me up here, Will!” Laura objected, looking to the younger Karnstein for support.

“It was funny.” Will agreed with a careless shrug. Carmilla glared at her younger brother like he’d just committed high treason.  
“You two have no taste.” She shook her head at the two teenagers.

“Kitty only likes art house films, and gory slasher flicks.” Will pointed out with a smirk. He and Laura had instantly clicked. Will was confident and outgoing, he would speak to just about anyone; unlike his antisocial older sister.

“Why do you call her Kitty?” Laura asked, though she already had a good clue. She watched as Carmilla stood up and stretched out, like a house cat laying out in the sun.  
“I couldn’t say ‘Carmilla’ when I was younger. So I always just called her Kitty. It stuck.” Will explained. “Plus she’s moody, lazy, wants everything on her terms… Need I go on?”

“Bite me, William.” Carmilla stuck her middle finger up at him. She glanced down at her watch and caught sight of the time. “Looks like it’s your bedtime, Cutie.”  
“I don’t have a bedtime!” Laura huffed, while Will bit back a snicker. Carmilla would beg to differ. If Laura was home later than ten o’clock on a school night, then Mr Hollis would soon come knocking.

“It is late though, and I do have some homework to finish off before tomorrow…” Laura started making her excuses to leave; mostly to keep from losing face in front of Carmilla’s brother. “It was nice meeting you Will.”  
“You too laura.”

Carmilla walked the younger girl to the door, closing it over slightly so that Will wouldn’t see the inevitable hug that Laura would give her before crossing the hall to her own apartment. “’Night Carm.” True to form, Laura wrapped her arms around Carmilla’s neck as she said goodnight. Safe in the knowledge that Will couldn’t see, Carmilla hugged her back.

“Goodnight, Cupcake.” Carmilla murmured in her ear, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek before they pulled apart. The gesture had become something of an unspoken ritual between them. She watched Laura across the hall, making sure she was safely inside, before she ventured back in to her own apartment. Will was waiting for her, like a shark circling a sinking ship. “Since when did you start cradle snatching?”

“Screw you.” Carmilla rolled her eyes at him as she climbed over the back of the couch and flopped down next to him. “Laura’s a friend, drag your mind out of the gutter, asshole.”  
“She’s cute.” Will shrugged. The offhand comment left a queasy feeling in the pit of Carmilla’s stomach. She refused to put a name to it.  
“Yeah, I have eyes Will, thanks. So, what’s going on with you? Got any cute girls of your own hanging around? Or cute boys?”

“I was dating this guy, Chris. Total jock. Not much going on upstairs, but gorgeous. Things were going great… until I screwed his brother.” Will was unapologetic in his answer. He was a Karnstein through and through; and if there was one thing a Karnstein was good at, it was using people.

The two siblings carried on catching up, skirting around the real reason that Will was there. Carmilla fetched a couple of cold beers from the fridge. Their French mother had raised them up in a very European way, with wine at dinner acceptable from an early age. Being brought up this way had given them a different kind of respect for alcohol than their American peers.

“Stiegl. Nice.” Will nodded at the Austrian beer. “I was at a house party last week and all they had was Miller Light.” The teenager twisted his face, and Carmilla mirrored the expression. She let him drink half the bottle in peace, before she started probing.

“What’s Mother’s problem this time?” She asked, already expecting the answer. Will shrugged back at her, picking at the label on his beer.  
“The usual. Her children are all ungrateful and they hate her. You and Mattie never come visit, blah, blah, blah. I just needed to get out of there.”  
“It’s fine. You’re welcome over whenever… and I’ll tell Mattie we need to have dinner with Mom tomorrow night.”  
“Thanks Kitty.”

 

* * *

 

 

  
“Laura! Hey!” Will caught up with his sister’s neighbor while she was reaching for the building’s front door.  
“Hi, Will!” Laura beamed at him as he opened the door for her. He was wearing the uniform for Styria Academy, the elitist prep-school uptown.

The beige slacks, blue shirt and navy blazer made him look like he was about to head off somewhere on a yacht. Growing up, Laura, Danny and Kirsch had always scoffed at the Styria kids and their fancy uniforms. Laura had never actually met someone who went there before.

“Are you heading off to school? Can I offer you a ride?” Asked Will, holding the keys to his BMW in his hand. As similar as he was to his sister, they were worlds apart at the same time. Laura knew the Karnstein's came from money, but Carmilla didn’t flash it around like Will seemed to.

“That’s nice of you to offer, but I’m actually heading the other way.” Kirsch usually drove Laura to school in his truck, but he and Danny had track and lacrosse practice early on Wednesday mornings.  
“I don’t mind. Honestly.” Will insisted, pointing out his car sitting across the street.

“Okay. Sure.” Laura didn’t want to seem ungrateful, so she followed Will over to the sleek, black, BMW that had been given to him the day he’d passed his driving test. The second he turned the key in the ignition, the stereo roared in to life.

“This is the band I was telling you about last night… They’re playing at the Alchemy Club on Saturday.”  
“They’re good.” Laura nodded along in time to the music, oblivious to the fact that her neighbor’s brother was asking her out.

“I, uh, I was thinking about going. You could come with me. If you wanted?” Will gave up trying to be subtle and went for the direct approach instead.  
“Oh. Yeah. That’d be cool.” Laura agreed, thinking that Carmilla would either be working that night, or joining them.

“Great.” Will broke out in a wide grin. “I’ll swing by and pick you up around seven thirty. The show doesn’t start until nine, but we could grab a bite to eat?”  
“Yeah, sounds good.” Laura agreed. She had no idea she was actually agreeing to a date.


	8. Chapter 8

  
“Screw it.” Carmilla let out a huff of air as she put her book down on her chest. She was lying spread out across one of the sofas at the Grind. The coffee she’d ordered an hour ago was sitting on the table beside her. Untouched, it had grown ice cold. Carmilla had read the same paragraph over an over again, unable to really focus on the words.

“What’s up with you?” LaF hung over the back of the sofa, peering down at Carmilla as she stared idly up at the ceiling. She’d been moping around for days, and it was only getting worse. Perry had urged LaFontaine to leave her be, to support their friend without questioning her, but something was clearly eating away at her. Carmilla ignored the question at first, like she hadn’t heard it.

“Nothing. Everything is just peachy.” She eventually answered, in a bored, flat, tone. LaFontaine wasn’t buying it. They pushed Carmilla’s legs down and sat down beside her.  
“Okay, spill. What’s going on? You’ve been extra grumpy of late. Is it your mom?”

“No.” Carmilla shook her head. “It’s not that.” For once, her mother was pretty far down on Carmilla’s long list of problems.  
“You can talk to me. You know that, right?” LaF tried to encourage her to talk about whatever was bothering her; Carmilla had never exactly been big on sharing though.

“Sure… but first, how about we start a camp fire, toast some marshmallows, and sing Kumbaya?” Her voice had an edge too it as sharp as any blade.  
“I’m out of marshmallows.” LaFontaine deadpanned, without missing a beat.

Carmilla snorted at that. She even managed a hint of a smile, before it gave way to a grimace. She brushed her hands through her hair, pushing it back off her face as she shook her head again in dismay. “Last night… I almost kissed Laura. Again.”

“Alright! Up top!” LaF held their hand up for a high-five, misreading the situation entirely. “Carm? No five?” They dropped their hand with a weary frown.  
“Let me rephrase that.” Carmilla rolled her eyes. “I almost kissed my teenage neighbor.”  
“This again. I’m still not seeing the problem here.” LaFontaine shrugged. “Laura’s not exactly some wide-eyed school girl. She’s, you know, a mature seventeen.”

“She’s still seventeen.” She sighed. “I didn’t even date girls that young when I was seventeen! Forget about it, LaF. I just need to get her out of my system.”  
“You forget about it!” LaFontaine snapped, snatching Carmilla’s phone out of her hands as she started scrolling through her contacts. “A booty call isn’t the answer to all your problems.”  
“No, but it’ll solve at least a few of them.” Argued Carmilla.

She snatched her phone back as it started to ring. LaFontaine didn’t need to ask who was calling, they could guess from the way Carmilla lit up. “Hey Buttercup, what’s up? Saturday? No, I’m not working. Why?” A small crease appeared on Carmilla’s brow. “Hold up, you’re going on a date with my brother?”

“Huh?” LaF caught the tail end of the conversation, having been distracted by Perry walking in to the store. Carmilla waved off their confused look as she carried on her conversation with Laura.  
“Sounds like a date to me, Cupcake. Where are you, anyway? Come by the Grind, I’ll have a milkshake waiting with your name on it. That’s okay… Just bring him along with you. See you soon, Creampuff.”

“Is Laura coming by?” Perry quizzed, while she busied herself pulling on her apron. “Who’s she bringing?”  
“She’s walking that puppy of hers. She’ll be here in ten.”  
“Forget about that!” LaF objected. “What was that about her dating Will?”  
“Laura’s dating your brother?” Perry frowned. “And when did she get a dog?”

Carmilla pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “She doesn’t have a dog, she’s bringing Kirsch. And Will invited her to the club on Saturday, to see some band that Mattie’s got playing there. I don’t think he’s figured out Laura bats for the other team.”  
“Maybe she plays for both?” LaF pointed out casually. Carmilla tried to ignore the queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach; it felt a lot like envy.

“I don’t think so.” She huffed, trying not to sound too invested in the answer. “Besides, she said it wasn’t a date. Let’s just hope Will realizes that.” Baby brother or not, she would feed him his own spleen if he made a move on Laura; and then she’d set Mr Hollis on him.

Laura showed up not long after, dragging Kirsch along with her. He was wearing a pale pink polo shirt, with the collar popped up, and an easy smile on his face. His eyes instantly caught sight of the freshly baked muffins that Perry had in the display cabinet at the front of the shop.

LaFontaine took one out and popped it on a plate for him. “Thanks, Bro.” He greeted them with a high five. He’d been by the Grind a couple of times before with Laura, and he and LaF had gotten on well. “Hey Carm-Sexy, Perry.” He nodded at the other two as he hopped on to a stool by the counter.

“Good afternoon, Kirsch.” Perry replied in her usual good cheer. “Hi Laura.”  
“Hey.” The younger girl greeted her back, already making a beeline to sit down beside Carmilla. Laura didn’t even bother with the pleasantries as she picked up right where they left off on the phone. “It’s not a date!”

“Whatever you say, Cupcake.” Carmilla rolled her eyes. She knew just what buttons to press to rile the other girl. Laura looked even cuter when she was mad.  
“Carm! It’s not!” Laura tugged on her arm, trying to get Carmilla to acknowledge her. “It’s just a show! You can come too! I thought you were working anyway.”

“Sorry, Poptart. I’ve already got plans.” As much as it pained Carmilla to turn the invitation down, she had meant what she’d said to LaF earlier. She needed to get Laura out of her system. Everybody knew the best way to get over one girl was to get under another.

Laura knew Carmilla all too well. She gave her neighbor a long, hard, look. “Please tell me you’re not hooking up with Elsie!”  
“Carmilla! You said you’d stopped seeing her!” Perry chimed in, siding with Laura.

“Yeah, C, that Elsie chick’s got a screw loose.” Agreed LaF.  
“Is that the hot blond that you had over last night?” Kirsch asked, oblivious to the way Carmilla stared daggers at him for it.  
“Yeah, that one, thanks Sport… What? A girl’s got needs!” She snapped at the others. They were all looking at her like she’d been caught sneaking cookies before dinner.

“I’ve got to get going. We’re supposed to be meeting Danny at the library. You coming, Kirsch?” Laura huffed, pulling away from Carmilla and waiting expectantly for Kirsch. She turned to Carmilla as Kirsch scoffed the last bit of his muffin. “Enjoy your date on Saturday night, Carm.”  
“I will… You too!”  
“I will!”

 

* * *

 

“You look nice, Monkey. Are you out with Carmilla tonight?” John Hollis had the appearance of a gentle doe eyed giant, but the man had a sharp mind and a keen eye. He hadn’t failed to notice that Laura had spent most of the week in her room - whereas she’d spent most of the last month over at their neighbor’s house.

“Uh, not tonight Dad. I’m actually going out with Will tonight.”  
“And Will is a boy?” Deeply etched wrinkles appeared on John’s brow and in the creases of his eyes. They were the kind of worry lines owned by the father of any teenage girl.

Despite knowing his daughter identified as a lesbian, John still felt an uneasy knot forming in his stomach at the idea of her going out on a Saturday night with a boy. The only boy he trusted with his precious little girl was Kirsch, and that was only because the pair had practically grown up as siblings.

“Relax, Dad. Will is Carm’s brother. It’s not a date. We’re just going to see a band.” Laura tried to reassure him, but her explanation only deepened his frown.  
“A band? Where? You’re not going downtown, are you?”  
“We’re going to the club Carmilla works at her. Her and Will’s sister owns it-”

“So Carmilla will be there.” John’s assumption seemed to bring him some kind of relief. Laura hated to take that away from him, but she also hated lying to her father.  
“Actually, Carm’s not working tonight; but her sister, Mattie, is!” She quickly added. “And Will is picking me up and driving me home. I’ll be back by eleven on the dot.”

“And Will has a full driving license? He doesn’t drink, does he? Do drugs? Have Tattoos?”  
“Dad! Relax. Will is a very careful driver. He drove me to school the other day, and I’m still in one piece. Neither of us will be drinking, doing drugs, or getting tattoos.”

Laura laughed, humoring her over protective father. She reached up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, his beard tickling against the side of her face. “Okay, Monkey. Just drop me a text or two to check in, keep your old man from worrying too much.”

Laura promised she would. It was almost seven, and Will would be showing up any minute. Pulling on her denim jacket, she called out her goodbye to her dad. Once she was out in the hallway, she glanced forlornly over at Carmilla’s door.

They hadn’t spoken since Laura had dropped by the Grind, earlier in the week. Laura had thought about calling the other girl, or just knocking on her door, but she’d chickened out every time. Pushing aside the desire to call Will and cancel their night out, Laura turned her back on Carmilla’s front door and headed down the stairs.

The youngest Karnstein was already waiting for her, Leaning against the front passenger door of his BMW. He was immaculately dressed. Wearing designer jeans and a white button down shirt, his clothes looked like they cost more than Laura’s dad made in a month.

“Hi.” He beamed, offering her a dazzling smile. Will looked like he belonged in a toothpaste advert as he opened the car door and ushered Laura inside. Walking around to the other side, he climbed in to the driver’s seat.

“So the band aren’t due to come on until nine. I figured we could get something to eat beforehand? There’s a diner around the corner from the club.”  
“Uh, sure. Sounds good.” Laura agreed. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a little voice was telling her this was starting to sound more like a date; and the voice sounded a lot like Carmilla’s.

They spent a couple of hours in the diner, eating burgers and fries, sharing a desert, and washing it all down with milkshakes. Will was a lot like his older sister. He spoke with a passion when he was talking about the subjects that interested him. He and Laura were taking a lot of the same classes, though Will’s were mostly AP.

The two teenagers talked about books, movies and music for two solid hours, barely noticing the time slipping by. The band they were going to see had already taken the stage by the time they slipped in to the Alchemy Club.

They made their way through the crowd, with Will’s hand on the small of Laura’s back, guiding her to the front. “Do you want a drink?” Will asked, his mouth right by her ear.  
“I’m good.” She shook her head, fixing her attention back on the band.

A couple of songs passed before Laura decided she was thirsty. Will offered to go up to the bar for the both of them, but Laura knew better than to drink anything that had been out of her sight for any length of time. Even if Will was Carmilla’s brother, Laura had been brought up to be cautious by nature. She accompanied the other teen to the bar and ordered herself a bottle of water; something she could easily reseal.

She was surprised when she spotted Elsie, serving behind the bar. The blond either didn’t remember Laura, or else she snubbed her on purpose as she served the guy standing next to the teen without so much as a look in her direction.

Will’s hand found the small of Laura’s back again as they returned to the crowd gathered around the stage. Laura worried her bottom lip between her teeth, wondering whether Carmilla had been right when she’d suggested Will had invited her out on a date.

She tried to wrack her brain, calling up memories of that first night she had met Carmilla’s brother. Had she told Will she was gay? Had she mentioned having an ex-girlfriend? Or had he heard her talking about Danny and presumed she was a guy?

The club was crowded and Laura’s small stature meant she kept getting jostled about. It was hot and humid, and Laura had already taken off her jacket and rolled up the sleeves of her plaid shirt. She’d never had an issue with crowds before, but in the dark, stuffy, club she started to feel like the walls were closing in around her; though that might have had more to do with Will’s hands finding her hips.

“I need to pee!” Laura announced as she spun around on the spot, knocking Will’s hands off of her. He frowned and cupped one hand around his ear, unsure of what she’d said. Laura’s voice was being drowned out by the punk rock music blasting too loudly out of the club’s speakers. Rather than leaning in close, to shout in Will’s ear, she mimed a complex series of motions, hoping he’d get the message.

Will nodded and gave her a thumbs up, though he still looked a little complexed. Laura didn’t stick around to wait for him to get it. She fought her way through the pulsating crowd and practically ran to the bathroom. Once she was inside, she slammed the door shut behind her and lay back against it, closing her eyes and letting out a heavy sigh. What the hell had she gotten herself in to?

“You okay there, Jail-bait?” An amused voice asked from over by the sinks. Laura’s eyes snapped open, bringing her face to face with Elsie, Carmilla’s favorite booty-call.  
“I’m fine.” She answered hastily. Too quick. Elsie quirked a single eyebrow up at her, not quite buying her answer. What Laura said next caught the older girl completely off guard. “Do I look gay to you? Like, if you saw me for the first time, would you think ‘yep, she’s super gay!’?”

“Uh…” A small frown played on Elsie’s face. She was clearly unsure of how to answer that.  
“Oh god, sorry! Sorry! I must sound like a total freak right now!” Laura quickly apologised. “It’s just… Carm’s brother invited me out tonight, and I thought it was, like, a friend thing. But now I think he might think it’s a date, and I’m kind of freaking out.”

“Okay. First things first. Breathe.” Elsie instructed firmly. She moved to grab a handful of paper towels and held them under one of the taps while it was running.  
“Thanks.” Laura took the offered paper towels and used them to dab against the back of her neck. She was hot and flustered and on the verge of a panic attack. “Do you think Will would take it personally if I climbed out of one of those windows?” Laura sighed. She had no idea how she’d managed to get herself in to this situation. She should have listened to Carmilla.

“Maybe.” Elsie laughed softly. She seemed a lot nicer when she wasn’t glaring at Laura, or making snide comments. The other girl hopped up on to the bathroom counter, watching Laura closely. “It might be easier to just hit on some girl? Let him down gently.”

“Ha!” Laura let out a squeak of laughter, then instantly clamped her hand over her mouth. The heat radiating through her cheeks had nothing to do with the temperature in the club. “Sorry. I just… I’m not that good at the whole… flirting thing. Do you maybe have a plan B?” She shrugged helplessly.

Falling in love with, and dating, her best friend had meant Laura hadn’t had to flirt with strangers. She had no experience in hitting on other girls. Hell, it was hard enough for her to be recognised as being gay in the first place. Laura sometimes felt like she needed to be waving a rainbow flag around just to get other girls to notice her.

“On second thoughts, you’re probably small enough to fit through one of those windows.” Elsie smirked, sounding more like her usual smart ass self.  
“Thanks.” Laura deadpanned. She watched the other girl walk out with a shake of her head.

 

* * *

 

“I had a great time tonight.” Will beamed as he killed the engine outside of Laura’s block. He placed one of his hands on the back of her headrest, leaning in towards her.  
  
“Me too. Thanks.” Laura stuck her hand out between them. She’d spent the last hour at the club trying to distance herself from Carmilla’s bother. Shrugging off his attempts to touch her and ducking him every time his face came close to hers.

Will shook her hand, though he looked a little dumbfounded by it. “Goodnight then!” Laura unbuckled her belt and threw open her door as fast as was humanly possible. She had her foot on the first step of the stoop before she heard Will calling out for her.

“Laura, wait!” He jogged around the side of the car and right up to her. Standing on the step, Laura almost came eye to eye with the other, much taller, teenager. “I uh, I just wanted to say I really enjoyed your company tonight. I’d… I’d like to do it again sometime.”

“Oh. Me too, but Will-” Laura was cut off as Will stepped forward, bringing his hand up to cup Laura’s cheek as he pressed his lips to hers. The kiss lasted for only a few seconds. Laura, in a state of shock, pushed him away from her. “I’m gay!” She shouted at the top of her lungs, attracting a few curious glances from passersby. She ducked her head, feeling another blush spreading over her already red cheeks.

Will didn’t say a word. He just stood staring at her, his lips still parted - and coated in Laura’s lip-gloss. “I’m sorry! I thought you knew… Sorry!” Laura shoved her key in the lock and rushed inside while Will was still staring after her, wondering what the hell had just happened.

Laura trudged slowly up the stairs, glad not to run in to either Kirsch or Danny as she made her way up to the fourth floor. She felt terrible for leading Will on, but once she’d realised it actually was a date, she’d done her best to try and avoid the kind of situation that had happened out there on the front steps.

The teenager paused as she came to a stop in front of her own door, and then carried on walking past it. Safe in the knowledge that Elsie was working - and so not inside with Carmilla - Laura knocked on her neighbour’s door.

There was still a chance that Carmilla wasn’t alone. It was a Saturday night after-all, and Carmilla was downright stunning. She could have anyone she wanted. Even still, the older girl’s face still lit up when she opened her door and found Laura standing in front of it.

It took her a fraction of a second to remember they were fighting, and the delight slipped away, quickly replaced by an impenetrable mask of indifference; Carmilla’s trademark look. “You were right!” Laura started babbling the second the door was open. “Will thought it was a date, and he tried to kiss me, and I think I might have led him on. But I really didn’t mean to and-”

“Whoa! Backup, Cupcake.” Carmilla stopped her mid-rant with a sobering grip on both of her shoulders. Her eyes narrowed, darkening to a stormy hazel colour. “Will. Kissed. You?”


	9. Chapter 9

“You were right, okay?” Laura huffed as she flopped down on to Carmilla’s couch. “Will thought it was a date and I totally led your brother on. I’m just not used to guys asking me out… or flirting.”  
“Please. Guys flirt with you all the time. Girls too, for that matter.” Carmilla scoffed with a shake of her head. Opening her fridge, she took out a beer and a can of that grape soda, the type that Laura drank by the gallon. “Not that you’d notice.”

“Name one time you’ve seen anybody flirt with me! Other than your brother.” Laura quickly added as an afterthought. She didn’t want to make it too easy for Carmilla. The older girl’s eyes lit up, relishing the challenge. Tossing Laura the soda can, Carmilla climbed over the back of the couch and made herself comfy; practically sitting on the smaller girl.

“Okay, Cutie. Let’s see. There’s the mailman. That creepy guy from the first floor. The artsy girl from the Grind last week. The guy working the toll booth at the movie theater the other day… Need I go on?”  
“Wait, that girl from the Grind was hitting on me? Wow, she added me on Twitter. I should probably message her.” Laura made to stand up, but was thwarted as Carmilla tugged on the back of her shirt.

“Great. First you stand me up for my brother, and now you’re ditching me for some liberal arts student with dreadlocks.”  
“She was cute! You could have told me she was hitting on me!” Laura pouted, socking the other girl in the shoulder. “You are a lousy wing-woman, Karnstein!”  
“Bite me, Hollis.” Carmilla snorted in to her beer.

With her lips wrapped around the neck of the bottle, Carmilla took a long gulp. She needed it to steady her nerves. Laura really was oblivious when it came to people flirting with her. “Hey!” Carmilla protested as Laura snatched the bottle out of her hand.

She knocked it back - trying to match Carmilla’s efforts - resulting in the teenager almost choking. A smirk appeared on the older girl’s face as Laura ended up having a coughing fit. “Easy, Party-Animal.” Carmilla leaned forward and started patting her back. Taking the beer back from her, she finished what was left in the bottle and placed it on the coffee table.

“If a date with my brother was bad enough to turn you to the bottle, then you’re going to need more than that.” Carmilla teased. “Why don’t you go tell your dad you’re back? Then come back over and we’ll have a couple of beers. You can spend the night… If you want to?”

“That sounds awesome. Thanks, Carm.” Laura threw her arms around her, giving the other girl a quick squeeze, before bouncing off to her own apartment. Carmilla watched her go, groaning internally at her own stupidity. Why the hell had she invited Laura to spend the night?

“You’re a fucking masochist, Karnstein.” Carmilla shook her head. Pushing herself back up to her bare feet, she padded over to the refrigerator and took out another two beers.

“Hey Dad! I’m back! I’m spending the night at Carm’s!” Laura crashed through the apartment she shared with her father like a hurricane. John Hollis glanced up from his newspaper and just caught sight of his daughter’s back as she retreated to her room.

“Hey Monkey. How was your night?” John folded his paper over and set it aside, pushing his horn-rimmed glasses to the top of his head. “I thought Carmilla wasn’t going with you?”

“She wasn’t. I uh, I ran in to her in the hall.” It was only a small lie, but it was a necessary one. If she told her dad that Will had kissed her, well, it wouldn’t be very good for neighbor relations if he wound up killing Carmilla’s brother.

“I’m going to stay over at her place tonight. If that’s okay with you?”  
“Of course. Just don’t stay up too late.” John reached up to peck her on the cheek. Laura froze, fearing that he would be able to smell the beer on her breath.  
“We won’t.” The teenager promised, hastily pulling away. “See you in the morning!”

Laura had left Carmilla’s front door on the latch, so she was able to slip straight back in to her apartment without knocking. “Hey Carm, I brought-” The teenager stopped in her tracks as she caught sight of Carmilla’s open bedroom door.

The older girl was busy changing for bed, with her back turned to Laura. Bending over to pull on a pair of shorts, she was giving the younger girl an utterly sinful view. Laura’s jaw almost hit the floor. Her mouth was moving, but no sound escaped from her parted lips.

The handful of DVDs she was cradling almost dropped out of her arms as she stumbled backwards, out of Carmilla’s line of sight. “Laur? Is that you?” Still flustered, the younger girl scrambled to answer.  
“Uh, no… It’s a burglar! I’m here for all your money!” Laura joked, earning a throaty chuckle from Carmilla.  
“Give me a second, Ms Burglar. I’ll help you look.”

Emerging from her room, Carmilla was wearing a pair of shorts and a Silas U teeshirt. She gave Laura a critical look and shook her head. “Sorry, Cutie. What you’re wearing is just not gonna cut it. Go get changed for bed. I’ll choose the movie.” Taking the stack of DVDs from the younger girl, she ushered Laura in to the bathroom to get changed.

The high school senior made sure to close the door all the way over behind her. Rifling through the overnight bag she had hastily packed, she pulled out her pj's; and groaned at the sight of the cartoon animals on her shorts. Seeing what Carmilla was wearing, and just how good she looked in her bedclothes, Laura felt self conscious about her own. She really should have paid closer attention to what she was picking out.

“Looking good, Creampuff. Loving the shorts.” Carmilla grinned as she caught sight of the younger girl coming out of the bathroom. Laura stuck her tongue out at her. It hardly helped her with looking more mature, but Laura wasn’t particularly bothered about that

She was too preoccupied with the blanket that had suddenly appeared on the couch. Carmilla was already curled up under it, flipping through the DVDs Laura had brought over. There were two beers on the coffee table, along with a big bowl of popcorn.

Laura picked up one of the beers and sipped at it, not wanting to repeat her earlier mistake of trying to chug it. Taking a seat next to Carmilla, she pulled the blanket up around her.

“You’re taste in movies is appalling.” Carmilla rolled her eyes at the selection of DVDs in front of her. “It’s all Hollywood drivel!”  
“Oh, I’m sorry. Miss ‘I-only-watch-movies-with-subtitles’.” Laura was poking fun at her, but Carmilla refused to bite.

“I suppose this will have to do.” Carmilla let out a fake sigh, holding up one of the movies at random. She really didn’t care what they watched. Apparently, she’d made a good choice.

“I love this one!” Laura beamed. She bounced up off the couch to put the movie on. Carmilla watched her closely, her tongue darting out across her lips as she watched the younger girl bending over to work the DVD player. Her shorts had ridden up, and her hair was falling over her face and in to her eyes.

Biting down on her lip hard enough to draw blood, Carmilla tried to distract herself with her beer. Laura, who was oblivious to just what she was doing to her neighbor, joined her back on the couch just as the movie started to play. She picked up her own beer bottle, sipping carefully at it.

“So, will my brother be getting a second date?” Carmilla asked in teasing tone, earning a groan of frustration from the younger girl.  
“Never!” Laura laughed, burying her face in the side of Carmilla’s shoulder. “You’re brother is lovely, he’s just not my type.”

“Not female enough for you?” Carmilla cracked.  
“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” Laura rolled her eyes at her. “I just came out for a good time, and I’m feeling so attacked right now!” The younger girl went to stand, but Carmilla tugged her back down again, wrapping her arm around her waist.

“And what, exactly, is your idea of a good time, Cupcake?” Carmilla’s voice was low and husky in. She had no idea whether Carmilla was doing it on purpose or not, but it was doing a hell of a lot more for Laura than Will’s kiss had.

She made herself comfy against Carmilla’s side before answering. “Oh you know… subtitled movie, piss-poor beer, terrible company.”  
“Laura Hollis, did you just say a naughty word?” Carmilla struggled to suppress a drunken giggle as she feigned shock at hearing the other girl using such language. She’d already had a few beers before Laura had shown up at her door.

Laura laughed with her, playing along with Carmilla’s little game. “Maybe. What are you going to do about it? Tell on me?”  
“Actually - Cutie - I was thinking about bending you over my knee.” Carmilla purred in her ear, her voice as smooth as silk.

“Really?” Laura’s reply came out in a breathy tone. She could feel her heart slamming against the wall of her chest. Biting down on her lip, and trying to ignore the heavy feeling of Carmilla’s hand on her stomach, she added, “Well… fuck.”

Both girls broke out in a fit of hysterics at that. Their giggling settled down once the movie started up, with Laura still resting against Carmilla’s side. The older girl kissed the side of her head. She couldn’t remember a time when she felt more content; at least not since Elle had died.

 

* * *

 

  
“Carmilla, dear, don’t slouch.” Lillith Morgan-Karnstein reprimanded her middle-child with a stern frown. “It’s unbecoming of a lady.”  
“Yes Maman.” Carmilla answered with a sigh. She checked her watch for the umpteenth time, wishing that dinner would be over already.

Laura was coming over for their usual Netflix night; which was pretty much any night that Carmilla wasn’t working and Laura didn’t have a ton of homework to do. Carmilla was counting down the minutes until Mattie would be driving her home.

At least she wasn’t the only one who had to suffer through dinner with her mother; Mattie and Will were sitting either side of her. Will was in his element, surrounded by his whole family at the dinner table. He’d been bugging his sisters to come up to the house for weeks.

Mattie was as enthused about visiting their mother as Carmilla was. Like Carmilla, she only came to keep Will happy. Their younger brother might have been eighteen, but to the girls he would always be the baby of their little family.

At twenty-six, Matska was the oldest child. She’d been adopted from a Parisian orphanage by the newly married Karnsteins. From an early age, Lillith had been told she would never bear children of her own. That’s why Carmilla, her only biological child, had been her little miracle.

She’d been born while her parents were still living in Austria. Her father was a British property investor, he’d met her mother in an Austrian university that they’d both attended. William had come along four years later. He was technically Carmilla’s cousin. Her father’s brother and wife had been killed in an accident in London, leaving Will an orphan at barely six months old.

They were an eclectic mix, but the three siblings had grown up closely. Daniel Karnstein’s death had rocked his family, but his children had held fast, sticking together when they could have so easily broken apart.

Their mother was no easy person to live with. Mattie had already moved out before their father had died. Carmilla had only been fifteen at the time. She’d had to suffer under her mother’s roof for another three years, before she’d been able to escape to college.

Carmilla had stayed in the city - choosing to go to Silas U instead of some far away place - only for Will’s benefit. Once he was old enough, Will would be going off to college himself; and Carmilla would be free to live her own life.

Lilith carried on throwing questions at her children, asking about school and work; though she had no real interest in their answers. She made sure to slip in a dig about Carmilla majoring in philosophy. She wasn’t happy about her daughter taking such a ‘frivolous’ degree. She expected Carmilla to follow in the family business.

The Karnsteins were property moguls, with over two dozen buildings in the city. Lilith expected her youngest daughter to join the family firm once she graduated; Carmilla, however, had other ideas.

She clock watched for the whole meal, choking down her dessert in a bid to leave. Mother had other plans for her. She already had her jacket on, ready to leave, when Lilith pulled her aside. “Carmilla, darling. Could you accompany me to the study for a minute? I have some papers I need you to sign.”

“Of course.” Carmilla gritted her teeth and followed her mother in to the study. It had once belonged to her father, and the smell of him still clung to the curtains and the leather books that lined the walls. Carmilla breathed in deeply. If she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine he was still there.

“It’s just some paperwork for this term’s tuition to come from your trust fund. It’s pretty standard stuff.”  
“Sure.” Carmilla signed the papers without giving so much as a glance over. Her college tuition was paid for out of the sizable trust fund her father had left her.

The only conditions of her inheritance were that she’d get it after graduating college. It was no substitute for her father, but the money was her ticket away from her mother. “Thank you, my dear. I’ll pass these on to Vordie.” Vordenburg was their family lawyer. He was a weaselly kind of man, who would do anything for a buck. Carmilla had never met a man she disliked more. 

 

  
“Could those dinners get any more tedious?” Mattie rolled her eyes as she slipped behind the wheel of her car. It was something German. Carmilla couldn’t remember what. She wasn’t very good with things like that. Cars held no interest for her.

“She knows Will is graduating next year. The last of her flock is fleeing the nest. She’s desperate to keep her claws in us.” Carmilla muttered, her attention fixed on the passing world outside. She was leaning against the passenger window, her mind a million miles away.

“I can’t wait to see her face when she finds out we’re moving to Paris next summer.” Mattie smirked, her own focus on the road ahead. It was already dark out, and she was tearing up the road. Mattie knew her sister was eager to get back, but she didn’t know why. “Right, Kitty-Cat?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure.” Carmilla agreed, barely even listening. Her face lit up when her phone started going off. She pulled it out of her jacket and answered it with a smirk. “Hey Cutie. I’m on my way back now. I’ll be an hour, tops. Okay. See you soon babe.”

Mattie watched her with a guarded expression, waiting for Carmilla to hang up before commenting. “You’re sweet on that Hollis girl, huh?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Carmilla answered coyly, ignoring his sister’s pointed look.  
“Hmm, I’m sure you don’t. Just remember, come July, we’re blowing this place off... So don’t be getting too attached.”

 

* * *

 

  
“Staying out again? I ought to rent out your room.” John Hollis joked as Laura came out of her room, dressed in her pajamas and carrying her laptop under her arm. “These last few weeks, you’ve barely been home.” His tone was light and teasing, but something in his eyes struck Laura. She paused with her hand on the door.

“I could stay home tonight, if you wanted?” She’d spent most of her nights at Carmilla’s place for the last few weeks, and their sleepovers had become a regular occurrence.  
“Don’t be silly.” John laughed off her concern. Getting to his feet, he dipped down to plant a kiss on Laura’s forehead.

He was glad to see her getting out. She’d spent far too much time locked away in her room after she and Danny had broken up. “Your old man doesn’t need babysitting. You go on ahead; just make sure you girls don’t stay up too late.”

“We won’t. I promise.” Laura kissed the side of his cheek, before bouncing out the door. She timed it just right, meeting Carmilla just as she was putting her key in the lock.

“Hey Shortstop, right on time.” Carmilla greeted her with a genuine smile, the type she reserved for Laura, and not the usual smirk she kept for everyone else. Taking the younger girl’s hand, she tugged her inside once the door was open.

“Go set up your laptop. I’m going to grab a quick shower and then I’ll come straight through.” She gave Laura’s cheek a quick peck before heading for the bathroom. “Oh, and don’t forget it’s my turn to pick what we watch!”  
“It was your turn last night, and the night before!” Laura called after her with a huff.  
“Only because you always cave and let me pick!” Carmilla shouted back, tugging her shirt over her head; despite the bathroom door still being wide open.

Carmilla already had the shower running, and the steam was starting to spill out in to the hallway. Laura tried not to stare as the other girl undressed and then disappeared from sight, stepping under the hot spray of the water. Laura made herself useful while Carmilla was showering. Making her way in to the other girl’s bedroom, she pulled back the covers and climbed in to the queen sized bed, laying her head down on Carm’s pillow as she waited for her laptop to load up.

Despite the ample room in the over-sized bed, Laura knew that Carmilla would climb in and cuddle up beside her, as surely as she knew the sun would rise in the morning. Her dad had no reason to worry about the girls staying up all night. Laura was usually the first one to fall asleep.

She was already dozing off by the time Carmilla walked in to bedroom. She’d changed for bed in the bathroom, and towel dried her hair, so she slipped straight under the covers to join the teenager. “Your feet are cold.” She grumbled, as usual.

Laura ignored her complaining as shuffled back a little, so Carmilla was pressed flush against her from behind. Taking Laura’s lead, Carmilla wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, cuddling in to her like she were a human hot water bottle.

“How was dinner?” Laura made small talk as she started flicking through her Netflix queue, trying to take her mind off just how low Carmilla’s hands had settled on her stomach.  
“Hmmm… The usual.” Carmilla sighed right in her ear, her breath hot against the side of Laura’s neck. “William sends his regards.” She teased, knowing just how to get a rise out of the other girl.

“Haha.” Laura deadpanned, refusing to take the bait. It had been weeks since her accidental ‘date’ with Carmilla’s younger brother, and she hadn’t let it drop. “Careful, Karnstein. You almost sound jealous!” Laura pointed out with a smirk of her own, noting Carmilla’s deeply set frown with a degree of satisfaction.

“And just what am I supposed to be jealous of? Huh, Cupcake?” Carmilla shot back, nestling her head on the younger girl’s shoulder as she made herself comfortable.  
“Nothing…” Laura mumbled, her eyes already beginning to close over as Carmilla pressed another kiss to the side of her cheek. “Nothing at all.”


	10. Chapter 10

  
“Hey Short-Stack. You missed a spot.” Carmilla saddled up behind Laura as she walked in through the front door and found her painting the lobby.   
“Ha ha.” Laura deadpanned back at her, not bothering to turn around. She’d only started painting an hour ago, right after coming home from school. Laura was fighting a losing battle against the light. She had maybe another hour, at most, of natural light to work with. “You could make yourself useful and pick up a brush?”

“That sounds boring.” Carmilla huffed, moving to rest her chin on the slightly smaller girl’s shoulder. Her arms wrapped around her stomach out of instinct. “How about you blow off work and we can go catch up on that hoarding show you like so much?”

“Tempting.” Laura started to laugh, and Carmilla could feel it deep in the pit of her stomach; before Laura pushed her away. “But, I promised my Dad I’d help him out with this. So you’ll just have to wait.” There was a teasing lilt to her tone. Almost a challenge.   
“We both know patience isn’t my strong suit!” Carmilla whined, tugging impatiently on the back of Laura’s shirt. “C’mon, Creampuff. Just take a half day.”

“Carm! Quit it! I’ve got work to do!” Laura childed, though her efforts to swat the other girl’s hands away were only half hearted. “I’m serious! Stop it!” She broke out in a fit of giggles as Carmilla tried to wrestle the paintbrush out of her hand. Once she finally had her hand on it, Carmilla came within an inch of dabbing the end of Laura’s nose with paint; until the feisty younger girl turned the tables completely.

Using the self defense classes her father had paid for - practically since she could walk - Laura managed to treat the paintbrush like it was a knife, pinning both of Carmilla’s hands up the air above her head, while she shoved the older girl back against a section of the wall that hadn’t been painted.

There was a tense moment of silence between them as their chests heaved and their eyes locked. Laura’s were the first to break away; darting down to Carmilla’s lips, and then back up again. “Carmilla.” A booming voice sounded from the bottom of the stairs, making Laura jump back about a foot. She looked guilty as sin, while Carmilla just casually adjusted her skirt. It had ridden up a touch in the scuffle, which only made Laura’s cheeks burn all the more brighter with embarrassment.

John Hollis walked towards the two girls, oblivious as to what he’d just interrupted, and carrying a can of duck egg white paint in each hand. He was wearing his usual jovial smile as he addressed the older girl. “Are you trying to corrupt my little girl?”   
“Always, Mr H.” Carmilla answered with a wink, making Laura blush. She hated the way a simple look from Carm could leave her weak at the knees. “Can you please tell your daughter to act like every other teenage slacker and skip work for today?”

“No!” Laura was still flustered as she snatched her paintbrush back out of Carmilla’s hands. Some of the hair she’d tied back in a hasty bun had fallen out and she was forced to brush it back out of her face. “I promised to help. I don’t shirk my responsibilities.”  
“You heard the lady.” John shrugged, holding his bear like arms out as if to ask what more he could do. “Oh, Carmilla, while I’ve got you here. I’m going out of town for the weekend. I was wondering if you could keep an eye on Monkey for me?”

“Dad!” Laura protested, her embarrassment reaching new highs as Carmilla barely held back a snicker. “You have my word Mr H, I will protect Monkey with my life.” She made some kind of half hearted attempt at the kind of hand signal used by scouts when swearing oaths.   
“I don’t need a babysitter!”   
“Thanks, Carmilla. I’d appreciate it. She doesn’t need much, three square meals a day, a bowl of water and a long walk in the evenings-”

“You’re both so funny.” Laura rolled her eyes at the pair of them.   
“Oh, relax, Cutie.” Carmilla teased. Her eyes were alight with mischief as she moved in closer to the younger girl, whispering in her ear. “I’ll make sure to throw you a bone.”

* * *

 

 

“Now you’ve got all the emergency numbers, and the number of the hotel. I’ll be back late Sunday afternoon. No parties. No drugs. No boys-”  
“Dad. Come on…” Laura gave her old man a disbelieving look, from over where she was curled up on the couch with an old, weathered, copy of Pride & Prejudice. “How likely is it that I’m going to have wild, drug induced, orgy while you’re gone for two nights. Maybe if it was three-”  
“Don’t even joke about that.” John pointed his finger sternly at his only child. “Or I’ll pack you in my suitcase and take you with me.”

“I’m not sure I’d pass for a marine. It’s a height thing.” Laura shrugged. Tossing her book aside, she stood up and walked over to give her old man a tight hug. “You’ve been looking forward to this reunion all year. So go, enjoy yourself, and don’t worry about your very responsible and mature daughter. I promise, the most exciting thing I’ll do this weekend is finish reading Pride & Prejudice for the millionth time.”

“I dunno.” John rubbed at his beard, his eyes narrowing like he was in mid-interrogation of the teenager. “Jane Austin was pretty revolutionary in her time. I’d hate for you to get ideas in your head…”   
“Fine! Fine!” Laura laughed, physically pushing him towards the door. “I’ll sit on the couch until you get back, and do absolutely nothing.”

“I’m holding you to that.” John chuckled. He wrapped his bear like arms around his tiny daughter, practically crushing her as they said goodbye to one another at the door. After a bit more persuasion, and John running through the emergency contact numbers with her again, he finally picked up his bags from by the front door and headed downstairs to catch his taxi to the airport.

Laura had managed to read another dozen or so pages of her book before there was a knock at the front door. Earmarking her page, Laura sat her book aside again and got up to see who was at the door. She was surprised to find Carmilla standing there, looking as drop-dead gorgeous as ever, in her trademark leather pants and a low cut sleeveless vest. Her hair was tied back in a functional bun, her lips were painted a dark red, and her eyes were lined with thick black Kohl. She looked like she was ready to head out on a hot date.

“Carm.” Laura’s voice actually squeaked as she greeted the other girl. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Hey. What’s up?” Laura had last seen her neighbor the morning before, when she’d asked her to come over Friday night and watch crappy movies with her. Carmilla had declined the offer, but she hadn’t given Laura a reason as to why. Clearly she’d already had other plans.

Leaning against the door-jam, Carmilla cocked her head to the side, looking past Laura and in to her apartment. “Hey, Creampuff. So where’s the party?”   
“You know my Dad said no parties.” Laura scowled at the older girl.   
“Ah. Of course. And you’re so square you actually intend to listen to him.” Carmilla shook her head with a cluck of her tongue. “God, it’s a good job I organized a little shindig over at my place then, isn’t it? Now go get ready.”

Carmilla didn’t wait around to listen to Laura’s protests. Pushing her back inside of her apartment, she directed Laura straight to her bedroom. “We need to get you in to something cute. Your audience awaits, my queen.”   
“Wait. Who’s going to be there?” Laura tried to dig her heels in, and slow Carmilla down, as she started riffling through her closet, throwing clothes about left, right, and center.

 

* * *

 

 

“You shouldn’t leave your door unlocked like that.” Laura chided at Carmilla’s partially open door, while she set about locking her own.   
“Relax, Creampuff. I invested in a guard dog.” Carmilla took hold of her hand and tugged her across the hall in to her own apartment.   
“You got a dog?”

“Sure did. Speak of the devil, there’s Clifford now.”   
“Bite me, shorty.” Danny rolled her eyes at their host. She greeted Laura with more kindness, pulling her in for a hug “Hey. I’m so glad you’re here.”   
“Me too.” Laura laughed. She wasn’t quite able to believe that Carmilla had managed to keep the party to herself all week.

“I’ll get you a beer.” Carmilla’s hand on the small of her back ended the hug with Danny. Laura took an abrupt step back, feeling a flash of guilt at the look on Carmilla’s face. She didn’t have long to dwell on it. Kirsch practically tackled her the second she stepped out of the hallway and in to the open living room.

“Little Hottie!” He grinned, scooping her up like an overeager five year old with a rag-doll.   
“Hey Hollis.”  
“Hi Laura!”

Perry and LaFontaine were already there too. Perry was slaving over the oven, seemingly in the middle of baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies. There was already a veritable feast laid out across the kitchen counters. Everything from chips and dip, to mini slider burgers. Perry had gone all out.

Laura’s mouth was watering at the sight, while Kirsch and LaFontaine were already tucking in to the food on offer. Laura felt a cold bottle of beer slip in to her hand as Carmilla saddled up beside her.

“Thanks.” Laura grinned, leaning back against her. She’d spent a lot of time with Carmilla’s friends, but it was nice to see her own mixing with them too. Kirsch and LaF seemed to be getting on like a house on fire as they stood around Carmilla’s blender, mixing up cocktails of a questionable nature.

“Don’t thank me yet.” Carmilla leaned in close, her lips pressing against the side of Laura’s ear. “Your boyfriend found out about the party too... I couldn’t stop him coming over.”

“What are you-” Laura started to ask what Carmilla meant, but she was cut off as the bathroom door opened and Will stepped out. Laura barely held back a groan at the sight of him. They hadn’t spoken since their accidental date.

Will, for his part, looked just as awkward with Laura as he offered her a timid wave. “Hi Laura.”   
“Hey Will.” Laura replied, hoping her cheeks weren’t as hot with embarrassment as they actually felt. She would have curled up right there on the kitchen floor, had Carmilla not been keeping a firm arm around her waist.

Will walked right past the pair, grabbing a beer from Kirsch. “Thanks Bro.”   
“Not a problem, Bro!” Kirsch was in his element with another guy around. Besides the guys on his football team, he didn’t really have that many male friends. “Hey Carm-Sexy, do you got any honey?”

“Cupboard on your left.” Carmilla answered, without questioning why he and LaF would need honey when they were supposed to be making punch. Her attention was fixed elsewhere, namely on her neighbour. Laura was putting back her beer like there was no tomorrow. “Easy there, Cupcake. You know you’re a lightweight.”

“Am not!” Laura protested with a frown. Carmilla found it adorable whenever the other girl tried to act mad at her, because it was just that; an act.   
“Really? Remind me, who did I have to carry to bed the other night after she’d had two beers?”

“I had the flu! The alcohol probably reacted with the cough medicine I took!” Laura tried in vain to defend herself, but they both knew Carmilla was right. The teenager really was a lightweight.   
“Sure, Princess. Whatever you say.” Carmilla rolled her eyes, sipping at her own bottle. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you safely to bed later.”

“I’m sure you will.” Laura replied - not so innocently - making Carmilla almost choke. “Easy there, Carm.” The older girl was spared from having to reply when Kirsch and LaFontaine triumphantly announced that their concoction was finished.

“Okay people, everybody grab a glass!” LaFontaine instructed, already ladling generous measures of the bright green punch in to plastic cups.   
“What the hell is this stuff?” Danny glared at the cup that Kirsch had handed her.

“Anti-Freeze #2!” LaF answered proudly, wearing a stupid grin on their face as Perry and Carmilla shared a look.  
“Oh dear…”   
“I’ll put 911 on my speed dial.” Carmilla sighed, taking two cups from Kirsch. She was loathe to hand one of them over to Laura, but she knew the tiny girl would object to being left out if she did.

“What is it?” Laura had the good sense to sniff cautiously at the ominous green liquid. The smell alone was caustic enough to burn at her nostrils.   
“Apple Sours, Blue Hawaiian Schnapps, Southern Comfort, Mountain Dew and Honey.” Carmilla answered. Her liver was starting to ache just looking at it.

Anti-Freeze #2 had been the cause of many a blackout for Carmilla and her friends, during their house parties back when they’d all lived together. LaFontaine had last made it the night of the wake they’d had for Elle. Carmilla had drank so much of it that she’d lost a whole three days.

“Seriously, Pop-Tart, take it easy with this stuff. It goes down like soda.” For someone like Laura, who wasn’t used to drinking, it would be all too easy for her to have too much too quickly.   
“Yes, Mom.” Laura rolled her eyes as she took a sip of punch. It hit her like a left hook from Mike Tyson. Trying to impress the older girl, she kept a straight face as she took a second sip. “It’s good.” Laura nodded, fighting back a dry cough.

Within an hour, the party was in full swing. Kirsch had his iPod plugged in to Carmilla’s dock, pumping out music at an ear splitting level. Laura was just glad her father was in another state all together; otherwise he’d be banging down the door to get them to turn it off.

“Your girlfriend seems to be having a good time.” LaF pointed out with a smirk, taking a seat beside Carmilla on the kitchen counter. Carmilla, for her part, was quietly watching Laura, who was stood on the other side of the room. She and Danny were deep in conversation.   
“She’s not my girlfriend.” Carmilla huffed, her eyes narrowing on Danny as she reached out to pat Laura’s arm. Coming from anyone else, the touch would have been innocent enough, but given Danny’s history with Laura…

“Tell that to your face.” LaF snorted in to their drink. “Seriously! You look like you’re ready to go over there and shank a bitch!”   
“Shank a bitch?” Carmilla shot her friend an amused look. She’d was already on to her second drink, though she’d been careful to keep an eye on how quickly Laura and her friends were drinking theirs. The last thing they needed was to have three drunk teenagers running around the place.

“You’re watching way too much Orange Is The New Black.” Carmilla shook her head. “And Laura isn’t my girlfriend.”  
“Suuuure. You just spend all of your time together, she spends most night here, and - if I’m not mistaken - she leaves her stuff here.” LaFontaine made a point of picking up a shirt off the top of a pile of laundry that Carmilla had left lying on the counter. The Doctor Who shirt clearly didn’t belong to her.

“Shut up.” Carmilla snatched the shirt back, and tossed it aside. “It’s complicated, okay?”   
“Looks pretty simple to me.” LaF shrugged. They raised their glass in Laura’s direction, catching the teen glancing Carmilla’s way for the third time in as many minutes. “You two crazy kids are the most couple-ish non-couple I have ever met. Seriously, you’re missing out on all the fun stuff!”

“Not all of it.” Carmilla grinned, thinking about how it felt to wake up beside the other girl in the mornings. Laura’s arms and legs intertwined with her own. Her hair tickling against the side of her cheek. The scent of her apricot shampoo… The sight of her smile when she first wakes up, and her eyes land on Carmilla lying beside her.

“Fuck this.” Gulping her drink down, and setting the little plastic cup aside, Carmilla hopped down from the counter. She strode purposefully over to Laura and Danny, tugging on Laura’s hand. “C’mon, Cupcake. This is supposed to be a party. Let’s dance already.”

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

  
“How about a game of spin bottle?!” LaFontaine had drank one too many of their own cocktails as they suggested the childish game. Carmilla, sitting on the other side of the room - with Laura tucked beside her - rolled her eyes at her best friend.

“That’s a stupid idea.” She huffed. “Half the people here are either darting, related, or used to be dating.”  
“Oh come on, Carm. It’s just a bit of fun! Besides, you and Perr were together for, like, five minutes!” Carmilla outwardly cringed as she felt Laura shift beside her. The younger girl craned her neck back to glance curiously up at her.

“I wasn’t actually talking about me and Perry; but thank you, Captain Blabbermouth…” Carmilla grumbled. She was aware of practically every eye in the room watching her. At least LaFontaine had the good grace to look sheepish about having put their foot in it. Perry’s cheeks were burning scarlet, while Carmilla was certain the colour had drained from her own.

“It was freshman year.” Perry turned to Laura, wearing an almost apologetic smile. “And Carm was a bad-girl in leather pants.” She chuckled, giving Carmilla a pointed look.

“Yeah, yeah. We weren’t exactly dating.” Carmilla returned the look with a conspiratorial one of her own. “Besides, it got someone to get their act together and ask you out. Didn’t it?”  
“It did.” Perry agreed, laughing as she tugged LaF in for a quick peck on the cheek.

Carmilla hardly noticed. Laura had shifted while the old friends were busy reminiscing, moving her hand to cover Carmilla’s. Their fingers became intertwined as Carmilla ran the pad of her thumb over the back of Laura’s hand. The pair were lost in their own little world as the others argued over what to play.

“I’m telling you little-bro, poker!” Kirsch piped up, with Will agreeing with him.  
“Sweetie, we’re not playing strip-poker. You always lose.” Danny patted his arm. She was always more affectionate when she’d been drinking.

“Truth or dare?” LaFontaine suggested. They ignored the collective groans coming from Perry and Carmilla.  
“LaFontaine, no! Your eyebrows have only just grown back in! And Carmilla is still banned from the public library!”

“Also LaF’s fault.” Carmilla pointed out, barely suppressing a giggle.  
“Hey, at least those nice policemen decided not to press charges!” LaFontaine grinned, looking far too proud of themselves. “Okay, okay. How about ‘Never Have I Ever?”

“I’m in.” Danny shrugged, followed by Will and Kirsch. Perry reluctantly agreed, and Laura nodded enthusiastically. Which just left Carmilla.  
“I hate that game.” Carmilla rolled her eyes. She felt Laura squeezing her fingers in protest though, and eventually gave in. “Whatever. I need another drink.”

Pulling herself up off the floor, she headed in to the kitchen to refill her cup. LaFontaine’s cocktails really did go down far too easily. By the time she was settled back on the floor beside Laura, LaFontaine had already rounded everyone up in a circle. Laura was grinning as they all got settled. She was excited to play; even if she was worried about what she might learn about Carmilla.

Forty minutes in to the game and Laura’s fears turned out to be well-founded. Carmilla had taken a drink for nearly every statement made, ranging from ‘Never have I ever jaywalked’ (that one being Laura’s) to ‘Never have I ever had sex on a boat.

“Okay, never have I ever… shaved my face.” Danny grinned as the two boys let out a groan and each took a drink.  
“That’s no fair, Lawrence! That’s like… strategical!” Kirsch whined, already five sheets to the wind.  
“That’s the point, doofus!” Danny mussed at his hair, while Kirsch tried to knock her hand away.

Carmilla pulled a face, miming a gagging motion to Laura; who was lying with her head on the older girl’s lap. It had been so long since she’d had to take a drink that she’d laid down and made herself comfortable. The teenager stifled a giggle, turning her head to bury her face against Carmilla’s thigh.

It was Will’s turn after Danny. He’d been watching Laura out of the corner of her eye, noticing the things she did and didn’t drink for. On a hunch, he came out with, “Never have I ever had sex with a girl.” The room exploded with noise as they all took a drink.

“I call bullshit, Little Brother!” Carmilla called him out on it, right before he took a drink himself.  
“Dude! Everybody drank!” Kirsch punches Will playfully in the arm. “You know the rules! You gotta take another drink!”

“Actually, not everybody took a drink...” Will was watching Laura with a curious expression. He wasn’t the only who had noticed her not taking a drink. Carmilla was watching the younger girl out of the corner of her eye. She was biting down on her lip, and gripping her glass so hard that her knuckles were white with the effort. “And if only one person doesn’t drink…”

Laura’s cheeks were burning hot as she realised everyone was staring at her; everyone except Danny. She couldn’t bring herself to look up from her glass. Had her mother not walked in on her and Laura last year, then she’d have taken a drink like everybody else.

“Will’s right. Hollis, you got to down it!” LaFontaine piped up, trying to break the awkward silence that had settled over them.  
“LaF, don’t be an ass.” Carmilla bristled, instantly defending Laura. “Laura doesn’t have to do anything she doesn’t want to do.”

Her fussing over the younger girl didn’t have the outcome she expected. “Maybe Laura wants to drink.” She shot back at Carmilla. Sitting up - her chin held up defiantly - she downed what was left in her cup. “I’m going to get a refill.”

“Let me.” Will offered quickly, scrambling to his feet. Carmilla glared daggers in to his back as he walked off in to the kitchen. Her hand found the small of Laura’s back. She leaned in to whisper in her ear, her lips brushing softly against her lobe.

“Let me.” She imitated her brother in a low whine, her fingers dancing up Laura’s spine. It drew a smile out of the younger girl; just like Carmilla knew it would.  
“Jealous?” Laura teased. She bit down on her lip, expecting Carmilla’s rebuttal.  
“Of what?” Her voice was thick and hoarse. Her lips warm against Laura’s ear. The others were too distracted, arguing over whose turn it was, to pay them any attention.

The game started up again once Will was sitting back down. It was Carmilla’s turn to go. Laura just knew she was going to pull something. It was written all over her face. “Never have I ever… gone on a date with somebody without realizing it was a date.”  
“One time!” Laura huffed, shooting Carmilla the stink eye as she had to drink.

“Sounds like there’s a story there.” LaF grinned, trying to probe Laura in to revealing more.  
“There sure is, Point Dexter.” Carmilla answered before Laura got a chance to. “Laura here went on a date. With my oh-so-charming baby brother.”

“Oh dear.” Perry muttered under her breath, while LaFontaine held back a snicker.  
“It was a misunderstanding.” Will’s ears were burning as he ducked his head, not quite able to look Laura’s way.  
“Which bit? The date, or the goodnight kiss?” Carmilla asked, feigning innocence as Laura choked on her drink. Will glared back at his sister, cursing her under his breath as she got to her feet.

Carmilla made an excuse about going to the bathroom and walked off down the hall, leaving the others still sitting in a circle. “Okay… new game. Let’s just get drunk!” LaFontaine announced, breaking up the heavy silence that had settled over the room. Laura waited until Kirsch had started the music again, and the others had spread back out, before she went after Carmilla.

She found her in the bathroom, bent over the sink and splashing cold water on to her face. Carmilla caught sight of her as she glanced up in the mirror of the bathroom cabinet. “Come to give me an earful, Cupcake?” The older girl asked, while wearing her usual smug grin; the one that told Laura she wouldn’t take a word of it in if she was there to tell her off.

“No.” Laura closed the door behind her, letting the latch click before she took a step forward. Standing with her arms folded across her chest, she looked a lot more confident than she actually felt. “You’re jealous.” She said, making Carmilla scoff out loud.  
“Please, we’ve been over this, Cutie. What the hell would I be-”

“Because Will has kissed me, and you haven’t... You’re jealous.” Laura’s tone was deceptively calm. Inside she was shaking like a leaf. Her stomach was tied up in knots and her heart felt like it was trying to rip its way out of her chest. Still, she held her chin up. Her eyes meeting Carmilla’s in a poignant staring competition. Carmilla was so shocked by Laura’s answer that she forget to even protest.

Her gaze dropped, momentarily, from Laura’s eyes to her mouth. Her tongue darted out across her own lips, which suddenly felt dry and cracked. “Maybe I am.” She conceded; a little chink appearing in her armor. Pushing herself off the basin, she took a step closer to Laura. Then another. Her eyes never leaving the other girl’s face the whole time.

“Well… you shouldn’t be.” Laura took a step of her own, searching Carmilla’s eyes for any kind of sign that she’d read the situation wrong. There was nothing in Carmilla’s expression. Her face was a blank canvas, devoid of emotion. However she was feeling, she was doing a world class job of concealing it from Laura. “He kissed me. I didn’t ask for it. I didn’t enjoy it… If I had my choice, he wouldn’t be the Karnstein I’d want kissing me.”

“Should I give Mattie your nu-” Carmilla started, but was abruptly cut off as Laura took another daring step closer, grabbing the front of her shirt and crushing their mouths together. It took Carmilla a fraction of a second to start kissing her back.

Laura’s eyes fluttered shut, her body melting against Carmilla’s as her lips parted. Noses bumped, and teeth clashed, as they pulled each-other in as close as physically possible. Carmilla’s hands reached up, tangling themselves in Laura’s hair. The nails digging in her scalp, and tugging just slightly - just enough to draw out a desperate whimper from the younger girl.

The sound should have brought Carmilla to her senses. It should have made her stop and think about what it was they were doing. It didn’t. If anything, it had the opposite effect. Carmilla turned them around, pushing Laura back up against the sink. Her hands dropped so they were cradling her ass, then she hiked Laura up, lifting her like she weighed less than a bag of sugar.

Laura sat back against the sink and wrapped her legs around Carmilla’s hips, digging her heels in to her back to pull her in closer. Outside, they could still hear the sound of the party in full swing. Though it was muffled. Like the two of them had stepped in to their own private world, and everything else had just faded in to the background.

Until the cold tap bit in to Laura’s back. “Ow! Ow! Cold!” She arched forward, her hands resting on Carmilla’s shoulders as she pulled herself away from the tap. Carmilla started laughing. The sound was so care-free, so unlike Carmilla, that Laura found herself moving to kiss her again. Carmilla happily obliged, still giggling in to her mouth.

When they finally pulled apart, little aftershocks of laughter still rippling through them, Laura was still sitting on the sink, with her legs wrapped around the other girl and her arms draped around her neck. Their foreheads were resting together. Carmilla bumped their noses together, grinning like an idiot as Laura’s eyes closed over again. “Hey.” She smiled at her when they opened.

“Hey yourself.” That set off another round of giggling between them. “Do you think anybody has noticed we’re gone?”  
“I don’t care.” Carmilla sighed, her breath hot against Laura’s lips. “I don’t give a damn about anything right now. Except for you.” Another kiss.

“God, do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to do this for?” Carmilla ran her hands up the outside of Laura’s thighs, trying to steady her breathing as she gazed down at the beautiful creature that was currently wrapped around her.

“I wanted to kiss you the first night I was in your apartment.” Laura confessed, ducking her head and blushing. “When you let me wait inside while my Dad was out.”  
“So did I… until I found out you were only seventeen.” Carmilla let out a hollow laugh. Laura’s age had freaked her out at first, but it hardly seemed to matter now. It wasn’t like she was some wide-eyed school girl.

“Hey Carmilla, can you hurry it up in there! I need to hit the head!” Kirsch banged on the bathroom door, making them both jump.  
“Just a second, Meat-head.” Carmilla called back. “I got this.” She reassured Laura as the younger girl gave her a wary look. Helping her down from the sink, she kept hold of her hand as she opened the door.

“Thanks. Oh, hey Laura… Oh. Hey.” Kirsch looked from one girl to the other with a goofy smile. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why they’d locked themselves in the bathroom.

“All yours, Captain Caveman. Oh, and not a word, or you’re dead meat, ‘kay?” Carmilla offered him a less than sincere smile as she pushed past him, tugging Laura along with her. The younger girl shot him an apologetic look on her way out.

Laura felt like everyone was looking at them as they walked back in to the living room, hand in hand. It was hardly out of the ordinary with them, but Laura still felt like she had a flashing neon sign above her head. Her lips were tingling from where Carmilla’s own had touched them, and all she could think about was it happening again.

“Is ten-thirty too early to end a party?” Laura whined petulantly in Carmilla’s ear, tugging on Carmilla’s arm to get her attention.  
“I’m thinking it might be.” She laughed, ignoring the way Danny was glaring at them from across the room. “Grin and bear it, Cupcake… Just about eight more hours to go.”

 

* * *

  
“Okay, losers, the sleeping arrangements are as follows: LaF and Perry get the spare room, the boy can fight over the couch, and Danny is in with me and Laura.” Carmilla announced, catching everybody off guard. It was hard to tell who was more shocked by the suggestion, Laura or Danny.

Kirsch was the first one to speak up though. “Dude, no fair! Why do you get to sleep with my girlfriend?” He huffed, his words slurred and his eyes glassy from drinking so much. His tone was light and teasing, but Carmilla could hear the edge it had to it. He wasn’t so worried about Danny sharing a bed with Carmilla. It was that Laura would be sharing it too that worried him.

Kirsch did a good job of hiding it. He generally played dumb, and acted like he didn’t see the lingering looks that his girlfriend sent her ex’s way. He was a good guy. A little stupid - in Carmilla’s opinion - for putting up with Danny’s bullshit, but still a good guy.

“Because someone has to.” Carmilla socked him in the arm. “You don’t like the arrangement, go home to your own damn bed.”  
“Yeah, that’s not happening. My Mom would kill me.” Kirsch sighed, flopping back down on the couch beside Will. “What about it, my man? Top and tail?”

“Why do you really want me to bunk with you and Laura?” Danny followed Carmilla in to her room as she went to fetch blankets for the boys. “Because if you think for a second that anything is going to happen-” She had her arms crossed across her chest, and her chin held up at a defiant angle.

Carmilla scoffed at her insinuation. “Relax, Bigfoot. You’re not my type. Besides, the point of you staying in here with us is so that nothing happens.”  
“What?” Danny frowned, not quite following the conversation.

“Jesus, try and keep up… I’m drunk, and Laura’s wasted. That’s not a good combination.” Carmilla ran her hand through her hair, pushing her loose curls back off her face. “I don’t trust myself, okay?”  
“You care about her.” It came out as a statement, rather than a question. Danny seemed surprised by the revelation.

“When you first showed up, I didn’t like you much… I still don’t.” She shrugged, being brutally honest. “I thought you’d end up hurting her, but you care about her.”  
“I’d rather die than do anything to hurt Laura.” The strength of her conviction was enough to shock even Carmilla. It was like finally saying it out loud made it somehow all the more real. “I’m in love with her.”

“Yeah. I know what that’s like.” Danny sighed. She couldn’t look Carmilla in the eye as she sat down on the side of her bed, wringing her hands together. “Okay. I’ll be your chaperon, or whatever… I like Kirsch. Like, a lot.”

“Kinda figured.” Carmilla rolled her eyes at the younger girl, unsure of just where the conversation was headed.  
“He loves me. He always has… and I like him… I like him a lot-”

“But you’re still in love with Laura.” Carmilla finished for her. Despite the fact that Danny Lawrence was the last person she wanted to have a heart-to-heart with, but she still found herself offering up some free advice. “It’s not all or nothing, you know. Loving someone new doesn’t take anything away from the last person. It just changes it a little.”

“Should I be worried about you breaking my best friend’s heart?” Danny frowned again. “Is there someone else on the scene?”  
“Not unless you’ve got a Ouija board.”  
“Oh… I’m sorry.”

“It’s no big deal. People die. Happens everyday.” Carmilla shrugged, playing down the lump that was forming in her throat. Maybe it was because she’d been drinking, because she added. “Her name was Elle. She was… special. One of a kind. There hasn't been anyone since. Not until I met Laura."


	12. Chapter 12

  
“Well, this is cozy.” Carmilla let out a huff of air, tickling the hairs at the back of Laura’s neck. They were lying so close together that they were sharing the same pillow. Carmilla had somehow found herself lying in the middle of Danny and Laura. She’d expected Laura to take the middle, but she’d taken her usual side of the bed.

“Hmmph.” Laura replied with a huff of her own. Her shoulders were set and she was lying rigid on her side. She’d had the hump since Carmilla had suggested Danny share the bed with them. Not that the other girl had been much use as a buffer. Her head had barely hit the pillow before she’d been snoring lightly.

“Don’t be mad at me.” Carmilla sighed. Wrapping her arms around the smaller girl’s waist, she tugged her back, pulling Laura flush against her. Her mouth found the side of Laura’s neck, her lips trailing soft kisses up the length of it.

“Hmmm...” Laura relented, arching back in to her. She rolled over to face Carmilla, leaning in to kiss her properly. “I’m not mad.”  
“Tell that to your face.” Carmilla laughed against the side of Laura’s mouth. “I thought you’d be happy I was making an effort with Clifford.”  
“I am - and don’t call her that - I just… It would have been nice to get more than five minutes alone with you tonight. Not counting the four trips to the bathroom.”

“You weren’t complaining about the trips to the bathroom earlier.” Carmilla teased. She was skating on thin ice as she rolled on to her back, tugging Laura on top of her. The teenager let out a giggle as she put her hands either side of Carmilla’s head to steady herself. She dipped her head, claiming another kiss.

Things started off slow, but the pace quickly picked up between them as Carmilla’s hand found the back of Laura’s head. Laura’s tongue darted out against Carmilla’s lips, asking for them to part. She was rewarded with a playful bite to her bottom lip.

Laura let out another moan as Carmilla ran her hands up her sides; and under her shirt. “Carm…” She breathed in to her open mouth, involuntarily grinding down against her.  
“Laura…” Carmilla’s own voice came out as little more than a whimper. This was exactly what she’d been hoping to avoid. Carmilla was almost tempted to give Danny a kick for the hell of it.

“Cupcake, this is a bad idea.” She turned her head away, kissing the corner of Laura’s mouth instead.  
“Mhhmm.” Laura agreed, though she was still lying on top of her. “Terrible.”  
“I’m serious.” Carmilla chuckled, rolling them both over so they were lying back on their sides. “You’re drunk. We’ll pick this up in the morning.”

 

* * *

 

 

Carmilla stirred some time in the early hours of the morning. Her head was pounding. Laura’s hair was in her mouth. She was too hot. Carmilla let out a groan, spitting out russet colored hair and rolling on to her back. “What the…” It wasn’t Laura lying beside her after all. It was Danny. “Oh god.”

Carmilla sat up gingerly, holding a hand to her head. She glanced around the room, expecting to find Laura lying curled up on the floor. She was nowhere in sight. The empty side of the bed beside her was ice cold. Laura had been gone for a while.

Carmilla rolled over to check her phone for messages. She came up blank. Letting out another sigh, she combed her fingers through her hair, and decided to get up and go look for her. Stumbling barefoot out of her room, Carmilla padded in to the living room.

She found Will spread out on the sofa, while Kirsch was curled up in the armchair. She left the two of them to it, checking the kitchen and the bathroom. Laura was nowhere in the apartment. Carmilla had a feeling where she might find her. Grabbing her keys off the kitchen counter, she slipped out of her own place and crossed the landing to knock on Laura’s door.

The other girl took her time in answering. She was bleary eyed as the door finally opened. “Get lost on your way to the bathroom, Creampuff?” Carmilla cracked. She wasn’t sure why Laura had taken off. As usual, Carmilla was trying to make light of things rather than face up to them.

“Your bed felt a little cramped.” Laura answered dryly. She rubbed at her eyes, leaning against the opening door. “Why don’t we pick it up in the morning?”  
“Seriously, Princess?” Carmilla rolled her eyes at her. “You’re in a strop because I invited Bigfoot to share the bed? We went over this-”

“Yeah. We did. I’m just a stupid, drunk, kid.” Laura answered sourly. “It’s fine to flirt with me, and kiss me and stuff, but god forbid you should share a bed with me-” The teenager’s rant was cut off as Carmilla stepped forward, crushing her mouth against Laura’s.

“That’s not it all.” She chided, running the pad of her thumb along Laura’s clenched jaw. “You’re not a little kid, and you’re not stupid. Plus, we’ve shared a bed a million times.”  
“We’ve never kissed before. Not like that, at least.” Laura was actually blushing as she ducked her head.

“No. We haven’t.” Carmilla grinned, closing the distance between them again. She cupped Laura’s face in her hands, giving her a dopey kind of smile as she stared down at her. “I don’t trust myself. Okay? It wasn’t about you. It was me. I don’t trust me.”  
“What are you-”

“I was drunk. We were kissing, and… I didn’t trust myself around you.” Carmilla finally admitted. “I don’t want to screw this up. Whatever this is.”  
“I like you.” Laura cringed at how stupid that sounded once it had left her mouth. It wasn’t like she could take it back, so she just kept on rambling. “I actually like you a lot.”

“Well, that’s a good start.” Carmilla gave her a wry smile. She laced the fingers of one hand through Laura’s, looking down at the ground almost bashfully. “Are you coming back to bed, or just staying here tonight?”  
“I think I’ll just stay here… You could stay too? If you want.” They were both more sober than they had been a few hours ago.  
“Okay. Sure.”

Laura nodded. Keeping hold of her hand, she closed the door behind Carmilla, then led her to her bedroom. It was the first time Carmilla had been in there. The four walls were painted a pale lilac color, and covered with posters of bands and women from TV shows. Her bedspread was covered in little Hogwarts crests, and her bookcase was crammed to capacity with an eclectic mix, ranging from Dickens to Pratchett. Everything about the room screamed Laura Hollis.

Carmilla would have teased her about the Pokemon figures she had lined up on a shelf above her bed, had Laura not chosen that moment to pull her down on to her bed. Their mouths found each other again once they were both settled under the covers. Their kisses were slow and tender. Carmilla did her best to keep her hands to herself. She might have been relatively more sober, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t still worried about pushing the younger girl too far.

“Laura?” Carmilla sighed later on, once they were lying side by side, with Carmilla’s arm draped over Laura’s stomach.  
“Hmm?”  
“I like you a lot, too.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Phone…” Carmilla grumbled, as the annoyingly chirpy sound of Laura’s ring-tone went off right beside her ear. “Laura…” She groaned, nudging at the younger girl with her chin. The sharp, shrill, sound of the phone was like a siren going off. It was doing nothing to help with the raging headache that Carmilla was suffering with.

As bad as Carmilla felt, Laura looked ten times worse. She had her head buried under her pillow. She didn’t even bother to lift her head as she blindly groped the bedside table for her phone. “Hullo?” Came the gruff greeting as Laura eventually found the phone and brought it up to her ear.

“You and Karnstein better be out getting coffee.” Danny grumbled. She sounded only marginally more awake than Laura.  
“I’d kill for some coffee right now…” Laura replied. She cracked her eyes open, and instantly regretted it. “Ugh, or anything wet.”

“I wasn’t offering, Hollis.” Danny sighed from the other end of the line. “Where the hell are you?” Before Laura could answer, she felt Carmilla shift behind her. The bed dipped as she pushed herself up. Laura might have called after her, if Danny hadn’t still been practically shouting in her ear.

“My place. I wanted to sleep in my own bed.” Laura answered. She heard the pregnant pause on the other end of the line, and could almost imagine the expression Danny was pulling.  
“With Carmilla.”

“Yes.” Laura bit out the answer, refusing to feel guilty about it. Her toes curled just from thinking about how Carmilla had kissed her the previous night. Whatever guilt-trip Danny was about to lay on her would be totally worth it.

“Perry’s making pancakes if the two of you feel like joining us.” There was an edge to Danny’s tone, but she didn’t say anything more about Laura and Carmilla having spent the night together.  
“Sure. We’ll be over in sec.”

Laura felt a smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she felt Carmilla slide back in to bed beside her. The other girl pressed right up against Laura’s back, and peppered the side of her neck with attentive kisses. “Okay, bye Danny. See you in a few!” Laura hastily said her goodbyes before hanging up and tossing the phone aside. It landed on the comforter with a soft thud.

“Something wet.” Carmilla smirked as she handed over a bottle of mineral water. She’d found it in the fridge. Carmilla might not have spent much time in Laura’s room before, but she’d been over for dinner enough times to be comfortable raiding her refrigerator.

“Uh, you are a god-send” Laura took the offered water like it was a lifeline. She couldn’t remember her throat ever having felt so dry before.  
“I know.” Carmilla purred from behind her, content to stay curled up beside Laura for as long as possible. “And I don’t care what you said to Clifford, we are not moving from this bed.”

“It might be considered rude to leave our friends in your apartment all day.” Laura teased. She screwed the cap back on the bottle of water, though she’d already drained it dry. “Besides, Perry’s making pancakes.”  
“Ask her if she delivers.” Carmilla mumbled. She snaked her arms around Laura’s waist and pulled her in even closer, making it abundantly clear that neither of them were going anywhere.

“They know where we are. They’ll come looking for us.” Laura argued, though her objections were halfhearted at best.  
“Let them.” Carmilla shrugged, with her face buried in the crook of Laura’s shoulder.  
“Kirsch has the spare key.”

“Ugh, why does god hate me?” Carmilla let out a groan. Ten minutes later they were walking through Carmilla’s front door, both still wearing their pajamas and sharing weary expressions.

“Look what dragged the cat in.” Will smirked, from over where he was still spread out on the couch. He was tucked under the old blanket Carmilla had given him, with a plate stacked full of pancakes in one hand, and a steaming mug of coffee in the other.

“Bite me.” Carmilla glowered at him, while swiping his coffee cup.  
“Hey! That’s mine!”  
“My cup. My coffee.” Carmilla shrugged. She took a seat on the end of the couch, helping herself to a pancake for good measure. Will was used to it. As the youngest of three siblings, he’d learned to eat fast; or at least lick everything on his plate for good measure.

Carmilla scowled at the smug look on his face as she took a bite out of the stolen pancake. Her own expression contorted in to one of disgust as she dropped it. “You licked this, didn’t you?”

“Kirsch does that. It’s gross.” Carmilla was surprised when Danny piped up, making an effort to engage the older girl. She had a flashback to confessing to being in love with Laura to her the previous night, and tried not to cringe. Carmilla would need to have a quiet word with Big Foot later.

“Only because you and Laura always steal stuff off my plate!” Kirsch objected, his expression souring. “Seriously, you guys are like ninjas!”  
“We’re growing girls! We need to eat!” Laura argued, already devouring a stack of Perry’s buttermilk pancakes.

“I guess Stretch was better at it than you, huh?” Carmilla teased, though there was hardly any vehemency to her tone. Danny gave her an eye roll, but they managed to avoid tearing chunks out of each other for once. Laura gave Carmilla a proud smile, happy to see the other girl making an effort with her friends. The look on the younger girl’s face almost made playing nice with Bigfoot seem worth it.

“Eat up, losers.” Carmilla stretched out, trying to work out the knot she still had in her shoulder. Laura had spent half the night lying on Carmilla’s arm. “I’m kicking you all out so I can go back to bed.” She gave Laura a pointed look, making sure she understood that she had an open invitation to stay.

 


	13. Chapter 13

“Hey Mr H. How was the vacation?” Carmilla greeted her neighbor with a rare smile. “John?” She repeated when he didn’t look up from what he was doing.   
“Hmm? Oh, hi Carmilla.” John set aside the wrench in his hand. He was bent in front of a radiator on the second floor. “It was just fine. How was your weekend? Laura said something about a party…”

“Uh, yeah. It was just a small thing… a few hundred people, some strippers and a clown.” Carmilla joked, aware that John was a million miles away.   
“What? Oh, yeah. Funny.” He gave her a wry smile as he wiped his grease stained hands on his coveralls. “Thanks for keeping an eye on Laura for me. I hate leaving her when I go away, but I didn’t think she’d thank me for a last minute trip.”  
  
“It’s no problem.” Carmilla shrugged. She adjusted her book bag as it began to slip down her shoulder. “You sure you’re okay John? You seem a little out of it.”   
“I’m fine.” He rubbed absently at the back of his neck, leaving grease stains on the skin there as he let out a small sigh. “Just can’t get this damn radiator working… This lousy old building… it’s falling apart.” He shook his head in despair.

It was strange to think, but in the few days since Carmilla had seen him last John seemed to have aged by years. The lines around his eyes seemed engraved there, along with the creases in his brow. His hair was disheveled, sticking up all angles, and his beard was in dire need of a trim. In all the months she’d lived in the building, Carmilla couldn’t remember a time when she she’d seen him looking so out of sorts. “This was the first building my Father bought when he came to the States.

“Yeah. He told me that when he hired me.” John moved so that he was leaning back against the busted radiator, looking out across the landing with an almost wistful gaze. “After I left the Marines, and Laura’s mom passed, I was at a loss. I needed to be there for Laura, but I needed to work to keep a roof over our heads too. Taking the job as the building manager meant I could do both. I had no experience, no nothing. Your dad had a whole line of people better than me apply, but he gave me a chance. I always appreciated that. He was a good man.”

“He was a good guy.” Carmilla agreed with a nod and a whimsical smile. “He loved this old place. He loved all his buildings. Mother, she… She doesn’t care about the buildings or the people. It’s all about money to her. Dad was never like that.” The conversation had taken a sombre turn, and Carmilla found her eyes watering. John looked just as dejected.

“Hey, how about you give up on that thing for half an hour and come have a beer? I’ve got some cold ones in the fridge.” She suggested, hoping he’d take her up on the offer. It wouldn’t do either of them any good to wallow on their own.   
“I could use a break.” He agreed, managing a weak smile. He liked the Karnstein girl a lot. She’d been a good friend to Laura since she moved in. It was nice to see his daughter expanding her social circle; though he was pretty sure Laura liked Carmilla a whole lot more than as a friend.

After tidying his tools away he picked up his toolbox and followed Carmilla upstairs. His front door was on the latch. Laura was due home from school any minute. He loved his little girl dearly, but she was terrible at keeping hold of her keys. Dropping his tools by the front door, he closed it over again before heading across the landing to Carmilla’s place. As promised, she had a cold beer waiting on the kitchen counter for him. “Thanks.” He wasn’t much of a drinker anyway but John didn’t recognize the label on the beer, or the language it was written in.

“No problem. You looked like you could use one.” Carmilla popped the lid off her own beer and took a long swig. Her classes had been hell all day. It was hard to concentrate on school when she’d spent the weekend making out with her cute - if a little dorky - neighbor.

They hadn’t really talked about it. Laura had just spent all of Saturday and most of Sunday over at Carmilla’s apartment. They’d ate junk food and watched terrible reality TV, so nothing out of the ordinary; except for the excessive amount of kissing that had been involved. “It’s just been a long week.” John shrugged off the unspoken question. Carmilla knew there was more to it. It was written all over the older man’s face. She didn’t push though. It was none of her business.

“I hear that.” Carmilla raised her beer to him. John clinked their bottles with a small chuckle, glad of the company. They stood in relative silence after that, drinking their beers and making the occasional attempt at small talk. John was almost finished when Carmilla’s door burst open. The tiny whirlwind that was Laura Hollis came waltzing in, dropping her book bag on the floor and jumping on Carmilla’s couch without looking back in to the kitchen.

“Hey, babe. My Dad’s out. So I figure we have maybe half an hour to make out before-” Over by the kitchen sink, John cleared his throat loudly, catching his daughter’s attention. Beside him, Carmilla suddenly wished the floor would just open up and swallow her whole.

Laura spun around so quick that she almost fell off the couch. Her cheeks were burning with embarrassment. “Dad! Hi! What a surprise! What… What are you doing here?” She shot an accusatory glare in Carmilla’s direction, which was met with a halfhearted shrug.   
“Just taking a break. I should probably go start dinner. I’ll see you in half an hour?” He wore an amused smile as he clapped Carmilla on the shoulder on his way out, his hand lingering just long enough for it to be a friendly warning.

“What the hell?” Laura demanded the second the front door closed behind him. Her voice had a habit of going up a pitch when she was flustered.   
“Sorry Cupcake, I invited him in. I had no idea you were going to storm in here and demand sexual favors.” Despite her own embarrassment, Carmilla was wearing a devious smirk as she crossed the room and tugged on the bottom of Laura’s sweater, pulling her in closer.

“I didn’t-” Laura started to argue, but her protests were cut off as Carmilla stepped forward and kissed her. “Hey.” She offered the older girl a goofy grin as they finally pulled apart.   
“Hey.” Carmilla returned the adoring look. She still had her hands on Laura’s cheeks, keeping her close. She’d spent the whole day craving the other girl’s presence, like an addict desperate for a fix. It had been a long time since Carmilla had felt anything even close to that. “Is your Dad okay? He seems… different.”

“Yeah. It’s just the time of year.” Laura pulled away and glanced down at the floor, biting nervously at her lip. She looked torn between leaving it at that and elaborating. Carmilla didn’t push it. She waited for Laura to continue on her own.

“His and my Mom’s anniversary is coming up. It’s always been hard for him.” Laura explained. It had been over eight years since her mother had passed away. As hard as it was for Laura, it was even harder for her Dad. Certain times of the year - like his wedding anniversary - seemed to hit him particularly hard.

“I get that.” Carmilla nodded in understanding. It had been less than a year since Elle had died, but Carmilla had already had to deal with their anniversary, as well as Elle’s birthday, without her. She had been broken for a long time after losing Elle. Laura had been the first person to make her feel like she could be put back together again.

She didn’t need to force the smile that graced her lips as she tugged Laura in close again. “So, we’ve got half an hour to kill… Whatever could we do?”

 

* * *

 

  
“Can you hurry it up already?” Carmilla whined for the third time since she’d put in her lunch order. “How the hell is a grilled cheese sandwich taking so long? I’m the only customer in here.”   
“Forgot to turn the grill on.” LaF shrugged by way of apology as they joined Carmilla over by the couch.   
“Sweetie, how many times have we spoke about-” Perry began, but LaF wasn’t paying any attention. She decided to save her breath, and allowed the rest of the lecture to slide. Carmilla wasn’t so forgiving.

“Seriously? I am wasting away here!” Carmilla groaned. “Remind me why I even bother coming here anyway?” She huffed out, sprawling across the couch with her arms crossed in frustration.  
“Free food?”  
“Impeccable company?” Perry and LaFontaine answered in unison. Carmilla flipped them both off.

“Please. We all know you’re just hanging around here waiting for Laura to get off school.” LaF pointed out, earning another woeful glare from their best friend. “Okay. Actually, that sounded way creepier when I said it out loud. My bad.”   
  
“Is Laura joining us today?” Perry asked, choosing a more delicate way to bring the younger girl up. She shared a knowing look with LaFontaine. Carmilla got the feeling that she’d just walked in to an ambush.   
“Yes… She is.” She answered slowly and cautiously, watching the other two for their reactions.

“She’s a lovely girl.” Perry carried on with the softly-softly approach. LaF, who had never been big on tact, chose to just get it out there.  
“Did you two sleep together the other night, or what?”   
“We slept in a bed. Together. If that’s what you mean.” Carmilla shot them a disinterested look, as though she wasn’t perfectly aware of their less than subtle attempts at bringing up her and Laura’s disappearance from the party last weekend.

“Dude, you know that’s not what I meant!” LaF rolled their eyes. Perry had done her best to keep them from asking outright for the last few days, but they were only human and their curiosity was getting the better of them. “C’mon, Carm! Did you do the nasty with-” “LaFontaine!” Perry chastised them.

“What?” They tried to look innocent, but only ended up looking all the more guilty for it. “I’m just asking the questions that need to be asked! Carmilla and Laura have been making heart eyes at each other for months now, and I for one am sick of waiting for them to get their shit together! There. I said it. The cat’s out of the bag.”

Carmilla snorted at that. Shaking her head at LaFontaine, she admitted, “Yes, something is going on. We haven’t exactly labeled it yet. And no, we haven’t had sex.” Carmilla wanted it. God knows she wanted it, but she hadn’t dared try to take things too far with Laura. She was painfully aware that the younger girl was still a virgin.

The only real relationship she had ever been in had been with Danny, and Carmilla knew how that had ended. She wanted Laura. Wanted her more than she could ever remember wanting anything else before - maybe even more than she wanted Elle - but she didn’t want to rush her in to anything. They hadn’t really spoken about what it was that was going on between them.   
  
Every time they’d been alone together over the last few days talking had been the last thing on their minds. Carmilla pushed her hair back from her face, letting out a frustrated sigh. God, it’s been weeks since I’ve had sex…” Perry cleared her throat. She had never been comfortable talking about ‘bedroom matters’. “I just really-”  
  
“Laura!” Perry piped up, her voice taking on an almost shrill tone as she greeted the teenager; who had just walked through the front door.   
“Hi guys.” Laura returned Perry’s enthusiastic greeting, coming to a stop by the couch Carmilla was sprawled against. “Hey Carm.”

“Hey, Cupcake.” Carmilla couldn’t help the goofy grin that spread over her lips. “You’re early. Couldn’t wait to see me, huh?”   
“Actually, I just wanted to come by and see LaF and Perry.” Laura teased. She laughed at the mock pout that appeared on Carmilla’s face.

“Rude!” Carmilla huffed. She sat up on the couch, tugging on the front of Laura’s shirt until she stumbled forward and fell on top of her. Taking advantage of the younger girl’s surprise, Carmilla stole a kiss from her.   
“Uh, Carm?” Laura’s eyes widened as she glanced back at Carmilla’s friends. They hadn’t exactly spoken about keeping things private between them, but Laura had gotten the distinct impression that Carmilla hadn’t told her friends about them.

“Relax, Creampuff. They know.” Carmilla moved along so that Laura could take a seat beside her. She didn’t miss the way Laura started beaming after the revelation.   
“Really?”

“It wasn’t exactly a shock.” LaF smirked, earning a jab in the ribs from Perry.   
“What LaFontaine is trying to say, is that we’re pleased for you both. It’s nice to see Carmilla happy.” And if anyone deserved a little bit of happiness, it was Carmilla.


End file.
